Head to Head Games

Beth GMs an introduction one-shot for Jeanne, intended to be a potential intro session for a larger campaign. Beth uses basic events to introduce the main narrative beats of a game of Geist and provide Jeanne with a quick introduction to the game's magic system. Jeanne adjusts to the rules and makes intriguing roleplaying choices. 

The episode analyzing this one-shot

Beth presents Geist: The Sin-Eaters, a 2009 game and 2020 remaster of a tabletop game about ghosts by White Wolf Gaming Studio. Beth and Jeanne describe the rules of the game in conversation and then analyze the gameplay of a one-shot of the game. They agree that the game is complicated and that they would like to play a campaign with the system.

The one-shot analyzed in this episode

Jeanne presents Warhammer 40,000: Darktide (2022), a squad combat game by Fatshark Studios based on the properties of Games Workshop, describing its class system and the role of lore in the game. Beth discusses her takes on the game as a newcomer to the series and a veteran of the genre. Together, Beth and Jeanne agree that Darktide is a fundamentally fun game, but find that their reasons for reaching that conclusion differ. (When don't they?-J)

Beth presents Banished (by Shining Rock Studios, 2014) and describes its blend of resource management, town building, and survival, as well as what kinds of decisions the player has to make. Jeanne describes her experience as a beginner Banished player, and Beth talks about what makes Banished special among her favorite games. Beth and Jeanne are in rare agreement that Banished is a well-made and compelling game. 

Jeanne presents Sheriff of Nottingham (by Sérgio Halaban, André Zatz, and Arcane Wonders) and discusses its strategic elements, and Beth describes what the social dynamics are in this simple bluffing game. Our discussion of what type of game Sheriff of Nottingham really is leads us to question whether we even agree what the point of playing games is. 

Beth and Jeanne discuss the board game Tak, a simple game conceived of by writer Patrick Rothfuss and designed by James Ernest with CheapAss Games. We describe the elegant rules and strategies together, with Beth focusing on the book's context, the atmosphere of the game, and observations from playing against many opponents while Jeanne discusses her favorite strategies and her observations based on a game between Beth and Jeanne's father. Together, we talk about our strategies and indulge in a lot of teasing.

Jeanne leads us in telling us about Palworld by Pocket Pair games, the strenghths and weaknesses of its broad gameplay, and the legal controversy surrounding it. Beth evaluates what about the game is enjoyable and not from the perspective of a casual player of this type of game. We together navigate the sticky issue of putting a solid review on a game so expansive and complex.

Beth GMs a one-shot of Don't Rest Your Head (by Fred Hicks and Evil Hat Productions) for Jeanne to introduce her to the game. Beth uses content from the rulebook and extrapolated from the rulebook to give Jeanne a normal Don't Rest Your Head experience with canon NPCs and a simple and quick story; Jeanne adjusts to the rules and makes interesting choices and uses of her player character abilities.

The full episode analyzing Don't Rest Your Head as a game and this one-shot

We discuss Don't Rest Your Head, a tabletop roleplaying game by Fred Hicks and Evil Hat Productions set in a nightmarish dream realm which has simple rules based on betting against the Game Master's rolls with your own rolls as a player. Beth describes the rules and GMing of a game as well as the game's role in her Master's thesis; Jeanne talks about playing the game for the first time in a one-shot we've uploaded in addition to this episode. We address things we'd like to do differently in a longer campaign, which both of us badly want to play after dabbling in playing the game together.

The one-shot, GMed by Beth and played by Jeanne

We discuss the board game Codenames by Vlaada Chvátil, a game that both of us played separately before meeting and have enjoyed playing together. Jeanne provides an in-depth discussion of the rules of the game and the ways that the formal, implied, and real-life variant rules affect strategy, as well as the impact of the game being named as the Game of the Year when it was released; Beth talks about the ways that the abstract nature of the game impact the players and the game's replayability. In this episode in particular, Jeanne and Beth go head to head on interpretation and playstyle but agree that Codenames is a game with rich play and lots of potential for any gamer.