Everyday Meeple

Everyday Meeple

By Everyday MeepleLeisure
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Everyday Meeple episodes

  • The Isolation Episodes #2
    Our second show from isolation has us talking with some technical improvements as we settle into the new system. It also finds us talking about how some publishers are trying to help out during this awkward moment.
    54 min
  • The Isolation Episodes #1
    As we all tuck ourselves neatly away into our homes during this peculiar time I reach out to Steve in his underground board game bunker so we can catch up and try and find some things to keep us all sane.
    We talk a bit about what we've been playing with our families and come up with a few ways that people who may not have a board game collection to fall back on may find something fun to play without leaving their homes.
    48 min
  • Ep 11 - The Co-op Episode
    We joked we would call it the co-op episode but that's really a bit of a misnomer. While we do focus on the Ravensburger game Horrified, which is a beautiful family weight, gateway co-op. And we do spend a lot of time talking about the benefits of playing co-op games with kids, and what some favourites are. I would say we spend the bulk of the time talking about the game design enigma that is Prospero Hall.
    Prospero Hall is a design studio that has slowly been making a "name" for itself since about 2016. They have come into their own with some really solid games and a business plan that shakes up conventions and has landed them some really big IPs including Disney. There is a good chance you have been playing a Prospero Hall game without even knowing it.
    57 min
  • Ep 10 What's your worst?
    In Episode 10 we spend a lot of time chatting about some of our favourites games. I’m looking at you Raiders of the North Sea. I introduce Steve to geekgroup.app a web app that links to your BGG (Board Game Geek) account and visualizes your collection data in so many fun ways. This leads us to discover what is considered the worst games in our collections based on the BGG ranking system. Of course, being the lowest-ranked may not actually make them the worst.
    What’s your lowest ranked game?
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    Corrections:
    Shem Phillips is the sole designer of Raiders of the North Sea. Steve may have said that he designed the game with S J Macdonald but that is not the case. The two are co-designers of the “ West Kingdom” trilogy of games including Architects, Paladins and Viscounts of the West Kingdom. The two are not brothers although it would appear that Sam Phillips, the artist behind Circadians: First Light and Raiders of Scythia is the brother of Shem. They all live in New Zealand.
    Inka and Markus Brand are indeed a dream team design team and a married couple. And, while we mentioned a couple of their games that we’re interested in playing, we failed to mention that they are the designers of Rise of Queensdale, a game that we’ve been interested in playing since having first heard about it.
    ______
    We talk a bit about: Clank! | Clank! In space | Ticket to Ride | TTR First Journey | TTR Europe | Orleans | Raiders of the North Sea | Raiders of Scythia | Cat Lady | Parcheesi | UNO | In a Pickle | Quelf | Slamwhich | RISK
    And a bit about these fantastic sites: BoardGameGeek.com | GeekGroup.app
    55 min
  • Ep 9 - The Road to Catan
    For episode 9 I get a bit excited and try and explain to Steve what I find fascinating about the world before Catan.
    I had something in my head about the game Acquire having been mentioned as the seed of modern Eurogames. Which really interested me. I started looking into and did not find too much at first then came across the book "Eurogames: The Design, Culture and Play of Modern European Board Games" by Stewart Woods and it is crammed full of history. Which I do a shaky job trying to relay to Steve. It's a great book though if you are looking for a good book on some game history.
    We also talk about our recent experience tackling Clank! Legacy, the most fun I have had with a Legacy game to date.
    We made a few mistakes though. One, I said "Social Game" when I meant to say "Society Game" from the German: "Gesellschaftpiele" Steve mentioned, "Leaving Earth" when he meant to say "Excavation Earth" when talking about Dávid Turczi games.
    1 hr 6 min
  • Episode 8 - Story Telling
    When people gather around the table, unfold their cardboard and break out their wooden bits, they do so for many different reasons. Some want to strategize like military generals in an effort to trounce their opponents. Others want a reason to unhinge themselves and laugh out loud playing party games. There are also those that want to immerse themselves in the setting, characters, and events of a board game and experience the story that on offer.
    In this episode, we chat about how board games tell stories. Designers have a lot of tools to work with when attempting to weave a story into their game. The components, the artwork, the mechanics and of course, the actual written narrative are all ways to convey a story to players. Some do it better than others and throughout our conversation, we amble our way and talk about A LOT of games like Near and Far, Fresco, Scythe, Legacy of Dragonholt and many, many more.
    We also briefly mention the different types of stories that board games tell borrowing from Christopher Booker’s The Seven Basic Plots (which we wrongfully credit to Joseph Campbell) to see whether board games possess the same storytelling capabilities as film and literature.
    While we stray from the topic at hand from time to time, this episode, at the very least, makes for a pretty extensive list of immersive games.
    So, gather ‘round, get cozy and let us spin you a yarn about board games and the stories that they tell.
    https://everydaymeeple.com/story-telling/
    1 hr 3 min
  • Ep 7 - House Rules
    Steve and I got together again to talk about board games. Surprised? This time we decided to get in on the house-rules conversation. Naturally, you can't talk about house-rules without the nod to the mess that is Monopoly.
    Eventually, we get around to the games we play today.
    https://everydaymeeple.com/ep7-house-rules/
    1 hr 6 min
  • Ep 6 - Theme - The Conversation
    After a bit of a hiatus, we return with a rambling conversation about Theme and the language we use to describe board games. We talk about how the word "theme" is often used as a catch-all term for board games and how, as board games evolve with more complex stories and gameplay, the term doesn't quite work as well anymore. We talk about how it may be beneficial to discuss board games with a broader vocabulary the way movies and literature are discussed.
    This makes it sound dense, but we ramble through things constantly stumbling on the fact that the point can be argued in either direction. It's just a conversation to start a conversation in the end.
    We mention our love of Lords of Waterdeep, the idea that themes within a game might change in the literary sense with games like Dominion, how Spirit Island touches upon important themes as a counterbalance to the recurring theme of colonialism in games like Catan. We wonder if "space" is really a theme or more of a setting or a genre and so much more.
    Give a listen and let us know what you think. Is there a better way to discuss board games than trying to blanket things into a "theme" based on the subject or setting of the game?
    1 hr 1 min
  • (Ep3) The Cat Lady Episode

    It's been a while but we are back. Macy has been really excited to record another episode so here it is. For this episode Macy chose one of her new favorites, Cat Lady. A cute as a button set collection game published by AEG designed by Josh Wood who also did the art. 

    In Cat Lady you are collecting cats and cat things. Every cat you pick up needs to be fed so you have to make sure you get enough food, but cats are finicky so make sure you get the right kinds of food. Cats also need costumes and toys, and maybe a little catnip. You can also adopt strays. This is a great light family game and a great intro game for drafting, set collecting, and resource management mechanics. 

    Macy gives it a 10. It's a good time.

    22 min
  • Ep 5: Signs of Madness
    Halloween has come and gone and we spend this episode talking about a few Lovecraft themed board games we like and discuss our first play of Mountains of Madness.
    1 hr 2 min

About Everyday Meeple

From the publisher's feed

Everyday Meeple is a show about board games. That simple and that vague. Each week Steve and Mitch talk about the hobby they love. Sometimes they talk about the games they’ve been playing or the art…