🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.

In this episode they discuss Civolution by Stefan Feld. Civolution is a heavy euro-style sandbox game that uses a dice selection mechanism to trigger actions on a tech tree-like structure. The game has many strategies and paths to victory. Each time you play, you will only explore a fraction of the possibilities that the game’s system and many cards provide.

📜Chapters:
0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?
0:10:37 - Intro
0:10:55 - Overview of Civolution
0:20:10 - Discussion of Civolution
0:59:39 - Questions for audience
0:59:58 - Top 200 Draft: 1-10

⭐About the Cast

Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).

Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.

Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.

🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.

In this special episode they discuss the nominees for the Kennerspiel Des Jahres 2025: Looot by Charles Chevallier and Laurent Escoffier, Endeavor: Deep Sea by Carl de Visser and Jarratt Gray, and Faraway by Johannes Goupy and Corentin Lebrat. They each talk about some things they loved or liked and one thing they disliked about each game, then they each answer the questions: "Which do you think will win?", "Which do you think deserves to win?", and "Which would you like to win?".

📜Chapters:
0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?
0:05:29 - Intro
0:06:06 - Discussion of Looot
0:27:57 - Discussion of Endeavor: Deep Sea
0:56:45 - Discussion of Faraway
1:11:23 - Predictions Introduction
1:11:46 - Which game will win?
1:15:11 - Which game deserves to win?
1:17:56 - Which game would we like to win?

⭐About the Cast

Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).

Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.

Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.

🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.

In this episode they discuss Assyria Second Edition by Emanuele Ornella, Shem Phillips, and S J Macdonald. In Assyria Second Edition, each round players bid for turn order, expand on the map, and take various actions. After the third and sixth rounds, a flood will occur, wiping away everything along the two rivers. After the final flood, the player with the most points wins. You gain points primarily by building huts and ziggurats, making offerings, and increasing your influence.

Visit the Kickstarter

📜Chapters:
0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?
0:07:55 - Intro
0:08:15 - Discussion of Assyria Second Edition
1:11:55 - Questions for audience
1:12:19 - Kickstarter Overview

⭐About the Cast

Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).

Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.

Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.

🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.

In this episode they discuss Lost Ruins of Arnak by Elwen and Mín. Lost Ruins of Arnak combines deck-building and worker placement in a game of exploration, resource management, and discovery. In addition to traditional deck-builder effects, cards can also be used to place workers, and new worker actions become available as players explore the island.

📜Chapters:
0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?
0:06:03 - Intro
0:06:22 - Overview of Lost Ruins of Arnak
0:11:30 - Discussion of Lost Ruins of Arnak
1:03:38 - Questions for audience
1:04:01 - Weekly Board Game Dilemma

⭐About the Cast

Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).

Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.

Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.

🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.

In this special episode they perform a snake draft of board game designers into their 5-a-side team. They each need to choose at least 1 attacker, 1 midfielder, 1 defender and 1 new recruit.

Attackers: Designers who have the ability to make real hits, even if they're not always consistent.

Midfielders: Designers who have a wide variety and are prolific.

Defenders: Designers who mostly stay in their lane, but don't have many duds.

New Recruit: A new designer, or someone who hasn't designed many games.

📜Chapters:

• 0:00:00 - Intro
• 0:04:30 - Draft
• 0:40:49 - Captains
• 0:42:34 - Honourable Mentions
• 0:47:40 - A Dilemma!!

⭐About the Cast

Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).

Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.

Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.

🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.

In this episode they discuss Golem by Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, and Simone Luciani. Golem is an engine building game based on the 16th-century legend of the Golem of Prague, an anthropomorphic creature that Rabbi Loew animated from a clay statue to protect his people. Using a hybrid worker placement and marble selection action system, players will attempt to score the most victory points through three main areas of the game, golems, books, and artifacts.

📜Chapters:
0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?
0:06:52 - Intro
0:07:12 - Overview of Golem
0:12:03 - Discussion of Golem
1:08:33 - Questions for audience
1:08:50 - Weekly Board Game Dilemma

⭐About the Cast

Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).

Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.

Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.

🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.

In this episode they discuss SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence by Tomáš Holek. SETI is a card driven eurogame where you lead a scientific institution tasked with searching for traces of life beyond planet Earth. Players will explore nearby planets and their moons by launching probes from Earth while taking advantage of ever-shifting planetary positions, direct their telescopes to gaze into distant star systems and collect promising data to examine and study back home.

📜Chapters:
0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?
0:07:55 - Intro
0:08:11 - Overview of SETI
0:12:13 - Discussion of SETI
1:11:40 - Questions for audience
1:11:59 - NEW SEGMENT: Weekly Board Game Dilemma

⭐About the Cast

Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).

Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.

Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.

🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.

In this episode they discuss Cooper Island by Andreas Odendahl. Cooper Island is a worker placement game with a unique resource system based on the height of tiles on your personal island.

📜Chapters:

0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?

0:04:08 - Intro0:04:23 - Overview of Cooper Island

0:07:06 - Discussion of Cooper Island

0:49:55 - Questions for audience

0:50:16 - What is your favourite overlooked or underrated game?

⭐About the Cast

Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).

Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.

Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.

🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.