Podcast Episodes

Trick-Taking Games Redux

Episode 374

I've always chafed at the conventional wisdom that young goats are good at trick-taking games. Or, at least, ones where you are not incentivized to go null. Do they hold their cards in their cloven h…

Published on 5 hours ago

The Lord of the Rings: The Fate of the Fellowship

Episode 373

Losing a component is rough. Knowing that one of your games is incomplete is like having a permanent absence in your soul. It's one thing to eschew that one added expansion--that's a triumph of restr…

Published on 1 week ago

Starting Over Your Collection

Episode 372

Inigo: I am waiting for you, Vizzini. You told me to go back to the beginning. So I have. This is where I am, and this is where I’ll stay. I will not be moved.

Brute: But the Prince gave orders —

Ini…

Published on 2 weeks ago

Vantage

"We don’t ask that you stop loving your fantasy world. We ask

you stop paying money for the privilege to dream of it. If

you want to read the [Harry Potter] books or watch the movies, consider

buying se…

Published on 3 weeks ago

SVWAG Con Report

A chief misgiving Mark has about the con is that he is a terrible playtester. He was able to play two unpublished games, and while the designers were gracious he is seldom able to offer anything of m…

Published on 4 weeks ago

#369: Take That

The purest juxtaposition that reveals the absurdity of "take that" effects can be found in many of your heavier games and some consims with cards. You gather the resources, marshal your forces, labor…

Published on 1 month ago

#368: Shackleton Base

"Dear friend, if you wanna feel better

Don't let the devil make you toss this letter

If you've been crossed up by hoodoo voodoo

A wizard or the lizard

You got family trouble, man trouble, woman trouble

No…

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

#367: Set Up and Tear Down

It is remarkable to reflect on how much hobbies can demand of us, and certainly board gaming is no different. Setting aside the administrative, economic, and social burdens; we then have to spend so …

Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago

#366: 7 Empires

Apparently the American custom of the "push present" can trace its roots to the Anglo-Indian tradition of the "baby bauble", although in the latter case jewellery is the more standard gift (instead o…

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

#365: Small Box, Big Game

Walker's approach to parenting eschews what he sees as the coddling endemic in other families. He believes in competition above all else, where newbs must be pwned and even babies must git gud. "L2P"…

Published on 2 months ago