Every Night is Game Night

Latest Episodes:

Episode 81 - Mage Knight Deep Dive and Improve Your Play Apr 06, 2018

Show notes

Here's an episode that we've wanted to do for quite a long time. Even as new, rich, and complex adventure games come out seemingly every month, Mage Knight fends off all pretenders to the throne and maintains itself as the gold standard of adventure solo gaming.

With this in mind, we invited noted Mage Knight devotee Kevin Erskine back to the show (he of the Top 100 Solo Games People Choice) to talk about Mage Knight, specifically why we like it so much (4:20), as well as what expansions to get and whether to hold out for the upcoming Ultimate Edition (16:40). Finally, for those who are familiar with the game and want a leg up on a successful conquest, we get into some tips and strategies in our second ever Improve Your Play segment (20:04).

In addition to all of that Mage Knight goodness, we are debuting a new ENGN segment that we hope people will like enough to where we could do it regularly. Liz Davidson from the Beyond Solitaire blog, who you have heard a number of times at this point, has agreed to be our Kickstarter correspondent. Most weeks, she will share some thoughts about what's hot on Kickstarter and what we should look for. Feel free to give us feedback and let us know if you would like us to continue that segment.

Mage Knight Solo Scenarios: https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/120439/mage-knight-solo-scenario-book

ENGN Preview Series 23 - Maximum Apocalypse: Gothic Horrors Expansion with Mike Gnade Apr 02, 2018

Show notes

Maximum Apocalypse is a survival and exploration game that has already funded and shipped, and is currently being enjoyed by gamers in the wider community. It is an exploration and survival game where you and your friends travel on a modular map, looking for supplies and just trying to last long enough so that various monsters don't eat you.

The exploration part has elements of Forbidden Island/ Desert. As a player, you will handle a deck in a similar way that you would in games like Sentinels of the Multiverse or Andriod: Netrunner. Mike Gnade visits our show answer critical questions about how the original project was received, some good and bad feedback, and how Gothic Horrors moves the ball forward.

On Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mikegnade/maximum-apocalypse-gothic-horrors-expansion?ref=profile_created

ENGN Episode 80 - Games for the Easter Season Mar 30, 2018

Show notes

We have a very, very unique episode for you this week. First, we were happy to be joined by Liz Davidson from the Beyond Solitaire blog, who hopped into the cohost chair and lent her expertise to the subject matter at hand.

Also, the airdate of this episode falls on Good Friday for Christians. In that spirit, we took a look at a few games with Christian themes - AD 30 from Victory Point Games (2:53) and Commissioned from Chara Games (11:10). We were also happy to hear about another Chara Games release with a Christian theme, Unauthorized (28:00). Finally, we have a discussion about Christian board games in general (30:00) - why they have a reputation of not being able to sell, how to navigate touchy historical and theological themes, and other topics.

This is another in our sub-series of episodes on games whose themes raise interesting, possibly controversial cultural issues. As always with these episodes, we give you game-related content in the first half, then get into the meat of the conversation in the second half. We are very open to feedback about episodes like these because we want to do the best possible job we can with them. So, if you have any thoughts at all, please leave them in the comments section of wherever you are listening to this, or reach out to us directly at everynightisgamenight.com. Enjoy!

ENGN Preview Series 22 - Unbroken with Artem Safarov Mar 27, 2018

Show notes

Solo gamers over the last few years have gotten their short, quick, dungeon crawling fix from One Deck Dungeon. Today, we have a project also intended for solo gamers who love hanging out in dungeons, but with a very, very different feel.

In Unbroken, instead of heroically diving into the dungeon, defeating bosses and getting phat lootz, Unbroken casts you as a hero who's just suffered a total party wipe and tries to get out!

It takes 20-30 minutes to play, and gives you a healthy dose of resource management, clever, stealthy play, and cool theme. The Kickstarter is live as this podcast drops!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1227872561/282020983?ref=443900&token=bda50c50

ENGN 79 - Apps of early 2018 and the Psychology of Top Ten Lists Mar 23, 2018

Show notes

We have a split show for you today. First, in rapid fire fashion, we run through some of the newest apps hitting our screens from late 2017 and early 2018 - Smash Up, 7 Wonders, The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game, and Hostage Negotiator. Anthony then gives his thoughts on the app version of a video game whose franchise has inspired many, many, many board games - Sid Meier's Civilization VI.

For the second half of the episode, Jason opens his psychology textbooks to give a fresh take on a topic relevant to board gaming. Why are Top Ten lists so popular? Why do they get so many more views, clicks, or downloads than other forms of board game media? We give you some context and hopefully get you thinking a little bit.

As always, please get in touch with us if you like what you hear, or if you want to discuss further!

ENGN Episode 78 - Mice and Mystics vs. Stuffed Fables Mar 16, 2018

Show notes

For this episode, we attempt to settle a blood feud! On a recent episode of the 1 Player Podcast, Julius Besser declared blood feud on ENGN in response to Jason besmirching the good name of Mice and Mystics.

So of course, we invited Julius on the show so that we could talk about our different perspectives. We get into Mice and Mystics (1:31) and do something of a rarity on the internet - have a civil and intelligent discussion in which we both disagree!

Afterwards, we get into how we think Stuffed Fables moves the ball forward and improves upon the concepts introduced in M&M (19:15).

Please check out Julius and Albert (both proud guest alums on our show now!) over on the 1 Player Podcast: http://1playerpodcast.com/

ENGN Preview Series Ep. 21 - Soul of the Empire with Pat and Kat Lysaght. Mar 13, 2018

Show notes

Have you checked out Kickstarter lately? Holy moly, there are so many good projects running right now! We are going to go on a mini-run of Preview Series episodes as a result.

This week, we have the wife and husband team behind Chara Games here to talk about their latest project, Soul of the Empire, live on Kickstarter on the same day as the air date of this podcast. Soul of the Empire deviates from our usual solo and cooperative games menu - this is an area control, asymmetric, combat heavy game in the vein of Kemet or Cry Havoc.

You guys know how much I love ANY game with juicy, tangible theme, though, so here you go! After we get to know Pat and Kat, we jump into talking about Soul of the Empire (7:30), including how it weaves historical flavor into the different factions, how it invites long term strategic thinking over a more tactical experience, and more.

Also, if you wanted a copy of their first game, Commissioned, you could get it via the KS project, along with some bonuses that Pat tells us about in the episode!

ENGN Episode 77 - Fire and Ice Reviews! At the Gates of Loyang, Dungeon Alliance, Clans of Caledonia, and Darkest Night Mar 09, 2018

Show notes

Here at Every Night is Game Night, we try our best to cover a huge spectrum of games, ranging from the thematic, imaginative jaunts that Jason loves to the heavy strategy affairs enjoyed by Anthony. In this episode, we double down and give you two groups of games from either end of this spectrum - two economic games and two fantasy adventures.

First up, Anthony tells us about a somewhat lesser known yet still magnificent game from Uwe Rosenburg, At the Gates of Loyang (2:15). You will learn, among other things, why the game is beloved in the solo community. Then Jason hits you with a Kickstarter project that is just arriving to backers now, a dungeon crawler powered by deckbuilding called Dungeon Alliance (9:06). Anthony returns to talk about Clans of Caledonia (23:05), noting similarities and differences between this game and its spiritual older brother, Terra Mystica. Finally, Jason takes us home by talking about Darkest Night, Second Edition (32:25). As always, we try our best to give you honest, well thought-out opinions on the games we review. Hope you enjoy!

ENGN After Hours - Top Ten Activities to Help with Depression (from the Thoughtful Gamer podcast) Mar 07, 2018

Show notes

A little while ago, Jason was lucky enough to appear as a guest on the Thoughtful Gamer podcast. A whole range of topics were covered with regard to depression - distinguishing depression from sadness, how depression can play out within the geek community, and options for treatment. We'd like to share with you an extended clip from that episode. If you are depressed, here are ten potential avenues for you to pursue in order to get yourself going again. Hint: many of them involve board games! We hope you enjoy this special feature.

If you would like to hear the whole pod, please head over to the Thoughtful Gamer: http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/02/21/podcast-episode-25-discussion-jason-perez-mental-health/

ENGN Episode 76 - Expansion Reviews and Improve Your Play ft/ Terraforming Mars Mar 02, 2018

Show notes

We are traveling back in time this week.. a whole 14 months! 2016 gifted us with some of the most amazing games we've ever seen, and we're here in the future to review some of their expansions. For any expansion, gamers want to know if it adds new, essential gameplay or just more stuff. We have answers for you!

Anthony leads us off to talk about Scythe: The Wind Gambit (2:34) with comes with Airships and also different end game conditions. Next, Jason bumbles his way through his impressions of Star Wars Rebellion: Rise of the Empire (11:20), a review through which Star Wars lover Anthony could barely contain his rage. Finally, Anthony gathers himself to talk about Terraforming Mars: Venus Next (23:05).

Finally, we debut a new segment which we call Improve Your Play, where we break down the basic strategy for a hot solo game and help you win consistently. Building on our reviews for this week, we give you our strategy tips for Terraforming Mars (30:58). If you were struggling to fill those three Terraforming tracks in solo mode, this is the segment for you!

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