Every Night is Game Night

Latest Episodes:

ENGN 154 - Post GenCon 2019 Wrap-Up, Part 1: Cooperative Games Sep 06, 2019

Show notes

We're starting a bit late this year, but that's ok! We are here for you to provide reviews of a TON of games from GenCon 2019. Get buckled in for a series of episodes to cover it all.

Helping Jason for Part One of our Wrapup coverage are Colin and Steve from the One Stop Coop Shop podcast and YouTube channel. Before we get into the games, we announced the creation of a new fan group for Every Night is Game Night over at the One Stop Coop Shop Slack channel. We go over how it works in the show. If you are interested in joining a small, engaged part of the ENGN fandom and have direct access to me and my content, please join us! Just click this link: bit.ly/onestopslack

We cram 6 games into an hour of fun for this episode. We got:

Roll for Adventure (7:01)
Legendary: A James Bond Deckbuilding Game (15:15)
Horrified (21:20)
Pandemic: Rapid Response (32:53)
Arkham Horror: Final Hour (43:22)
Quirky Circuits (51:27)

ENGN 153 - Beyond the Hotness and Second Chance Shelf with Jordan Shoenberger Aug 30, 2019

Show notes

Jason welcomes Jordan Shoenberger, host of the Second Chance Shelf segment from Board Game Breakfast, to the show for the first time. Before we get swept up in the madness of all the new releases of 2019 (believe me, people, there are MANY episodes of new hotness coming), we slow things down and talk about what we love about finding rare gems and pulling old, beloved games off of the shelf.

We then get into some reviews of some older games for lots of different tastes. Jason begins with Citadel of Blood (14:18), a relic of an earlier generation of dice-based dungeon crawling games that nevertheless holds some charm and also some design ideas for a newer generation. Jordan then shares about a hidden favorite among solo gamers, Walnut Grove (20:47). Thanks so much to Jordan for being someone who actually has that game and wanted to talk about it!

Next up, Jason talks about Bethel Woods, a simple game with a Mancala-esque mechanism that's fairly unique in the cooperative space (29:45). Finally, Jordan takes us home with one of his favorite games to play in all situations, especially with his spouse, Taluva (35:42).

ENGN Episode 152 - Shapers of Land, Air and Sea, and How to Moderate Folks who Disagree Aug 23, 2019

Show notes

Jason welcomes good friend Gary Pope from the Dice Tower to talk about... uh, talking!

Games first, though. Jason shares about World Shapers, a rare drafting game with a solo variant from Board&Dice that attempts to put its own spin and advance upon games like 7 Wonders and Tides of Time. Then, Gary sings the praises of one of his favorite games over the past few years, Heroes of Land, Air, and Sea.

For our discussion, Jason and Gary pull from their experiences as a marriage counselor and forum moderator, respectively, to chat about how we help people who disagree talk to one another. Is it possible to strike a balance between keeping forum spaces safe, but also allowing critical conversation? What can we do when people start to take conversations personally? We get into these and many other questions.

In Liz We Trust - Burgle Bros 2 - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fowers/burgle-bros-2-the-casino-capers

ENGN Episode 151 - SpaceCorp 2025 - 2300 AD and On Ramp to Wargaming Aug 16, 2019

Show notes

We have two separate segments for you this week. First, Brandt from the Portal Gaming Podcast joins Jason to chat about SpaceCorp 2025-2300 AD, a card driven space exploration game that plays more like a Euro than what we're used to from GMT.

Second, Jason and Liz are joined by a listener, Tommy Ray, to chat about how they have recently gotten into wargaming. There's a lot of barriers to overcome - where to start, how to get used to the massive time investment, becoming a part of that community, etc. We break it all down, including some game talk about favorites like GMT's Falling Sky and DVG's Thunderbolt Apache Leader. We hope this helps you open up another avenue of gaming in your life.

In Liz we Trust - Cosmic Run: Express - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/337407318/cosmic-run-express-promo-packs?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=cosmic%20run

ENGN 150 - The Debut of Right Brain - Left Brain Game Reviews: Waters of Nereus, Crisis at Steamfall, and Brook City Aug 09, 2019

Show notes

We made it to Episode 150! To mark the occasion, Jason is going to try a whole new style of reviewing games, which will hopefully stick moving forward. Jason is very interested in the psychological experience of a board game, whether its the thematic, imaginative immersion it generates or the strategic, logical challenge it presents. That distinction folds nicely in with the concept in pop psychology of the "right brain" (creative, "big picture') and "left brain" (analytical, detail-oriented). So, when Jason reviews games moving forward, the critical questions will be about game experience from these two perspectives. Unless, of course, you all think this is a terrible idea. If so, please let me know!

The first game for review is Waters of Nereus (19:17), a simple economic, convert-stuff-into-more-stuff-into-points game with a touch of exploration and spatial movement to complement. Next up is Crisis at Steamfall (26:51), a tactical game with a significant Euro feel, especially in the way you build the actions and resources of your heroes over the course of three rounds. Finally, we get into the action cop movie, heavily thematic experience that is Brook City (36:26), fresh from the Sadler Brothers and Blacklist Games.

In Liz we Trust: Sleeping Gods - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/953146955/sleeping-gods?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=sleeping%20gods

ENGN extra - Women in Board Gaming from Board Gamers Anonymous Aug 03, 2019

Show notes

There's a lot going on in Jason's life nowadays! We're slowing down the content train once again so we could catch up a bit. No new ENGN content this week. In the meantime, please enjoy this conversation that happened last week on Board Gamers Anonymous. Chris and his friend Jen discuss women in gaming - feeling comfortable in gaming spaces, different ways in which women and men interact at the table, little ways to make things better, and a ton more. Jason was a huge fan of the convo and will follow up with some thoughts or a guest discussion... uh, eventually :slightly_smiling_face:.

BGA blog post from Jen - https://boardgamersanonymous.com/bras-and-boardgames/

ENGN 149 - Designer Roundtable on Storytelling in Games, Then and Now Jul 26, 2019

Show notes

Jason welcomes Rob Daviau to the pod for the first time to chat storytelling in gaming, joined also by ENGN veterans Peter and Mike from the One-Stop Coop Shop podcast. We get into some of the essential differences between old school and new school game design, and whether the different approaches and philosophies generate different stories (better? worse? basically the same?) at the table.

As far as game commentary, we get into the original Dark Tower and some of the modernization challenges that Restoration Games has faced. We also chat about some of the differences between Pandemic Legacy Season One vs. Season Two, and whether the different approaches to the overall story were equally effective across the two games. We certainly cover lots of ground in this one.

ENGN Preview Series 46 - Adventure Tactics: Domianne's Tower with Nicholas Yu and Dan Letzring Jul 25, 2019

Show notes

We're back! ENGN listeners know that Jason loves his big, honking adventure games. A really clever and unique one from Letzring Games will launch on Kickstarter this Monday, July 29th.

We're chatting Adventure Tactics: Domianne's Tower from three different perspectives - the deck construction and tactical planning on the hero side, the set-piece, cinematic nature of combat in the system, and a whimsical fantasy story. If you've ever wanted to play Final Fantasy Tactics on a big board, this one might be for you.

ENGN 148 - Tiny Towns, Legends Untold, and A Personal Chat with Jambalaya Plays Games Jul 19, 2019

Show notes

A few episodes ago, Jason shared about his personal journey with depression in a personal chat segment. The response was very heartening - folks seemed to resonate with it and expressed their appreciation in a few private messages. Thank you! We all have a journey, or a personal story with some pain in it. Jeremy from Jambalaya Plays Games stops by and shares some of his own experiences, struggles, and successes.

That will happen in the back half of the episode (38:52). For the first part of the episode, please enjoy some game reviews! We have two very opposite games for you this week - the abstract, family weight, city building game Tiny Towns (6:50) and the thematic, adventure card game experience Legends Untold (20:09). If you listen to ENGN just to have fun, please enjoy the first half! However, if you want to hear about the personal journey of a good friend and his efforts to stay happy and creating content for himself and for all of you, then I invite you to listen to his story. Please reach out to him at Jambalaya Plays Games on many, many social media platforms. and interact with him - he's not a hard man to find!

Kickstarter segment: Isle of Cats by Frank West - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcokgame/the-isle-of-cats?ref=discovery&term=isle%20of%20cats

ENGN 147 - Heroes of Aerion, and the Psychology of Cheating in Content Creation Jul 12, 2019

Show notes

We have more game reviews this week, as well as something of a follow-up on last week's conversation about the psychology of cheating in board games. We welcome Anthony back to the show to discuss Aerion, the latest in the Oniverse series (3:55), then Jason talks about a unique, push-your-luck take on deckbuilding, Heroes of Tenefyr (14:01).

Finally, Jason revisits the topic of the psychology of cheating, but in a different way. The board gaming community became wrapped up in some controversy this past week - a creator was noted for committing plagiarism on their blog. A lot of "naming and shaming" happened, as well as people wondering why anyone would be driven to plagiarize. Jason shares about some of the pit traps that creators can face - they're much more common than you might think.

In Liz we Trust - Roll Player: Fiends and Familiars - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1152516291/roll-player-fiends-and-familiars-expansion?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=roll%20player

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