Men on Board

Today we're looking at two games designed by Alexander Pfister: Mombasa and Great Western Trail.  In our Broader View, we talk about game designer signatures.  Shorter show notes courtesy of getting home very late after Origins 2018!

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:51] - Alexander Pfister
[00:01:30] - Mombasa
[00:17:01] - Great Western Trail
[00:32:38] - Comparison
[00:38:37] - Other Games Like These In Some Way
[00:42:35] - Broader View

This week we're looking at set collection with Splendor and Century: Golem Edition (which is mechanically identical to Century Spice Road, but Aaron just likes animating golems more than trading spices).  In our Broader View, we discuss how component quality can enhance or detract from our enjoyment of a game.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:56] - Set Collection
[00:01:23] - Splendor
[00:16:24] - Century: Golem Edition
[00:31:13] - Comparison
[00:38:41] - Other Set Collection Games
[00:41:44] - Broader View

After starting off with some bad news last episode and promising the same for this week, we were pleasantly surprised to see that we did not have the same issue in this recording!  This week, we're talking about the social deduction games Two Rooms and a Boom and The Resistance.  In our Broader View, we talk about deception in games and it gets a little bit real.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:41] - Social Deduction Games
[00:01:32] - Two Rooms and a Boom
[00:15:59] - The Resistance
[00:30:05] - Comparison
[00:34:58] - Other Social Deduction Games
[00:38:11] - Broader View

Unfortunately, we had some issues with the recording in this episode, so Mat's sound quality is a little bit distracting.  As a result, we had to do some creative editing, so hopefully this doesn't sound too jarring.  But in this lo-fi episode, we're discussing Ghost Stories and Zombicide: Black Plague, two cooperative games where dice combat is a major part of the game.  In our Broader View, we have a discussion about dealing with alpha players.

[00:00:00] - An apology
[00:00:46] - Introduction
[00:01:28] - Cooperative Dice Games
[00:02:14] - Ghost Stories
[00:17:05] - Zombicide: Black Plague
[00:33:13] - Comparison
[00:39:50] - Other Cooperative Dice Games
[00:42:40] - Broader View

The category for this episode is card drafting games which we define as games where a player gets a hand of cards, selects one of those cards, and then passes the hand off to another player.  The games that we're comparing our Sushi Go Party and 7 Wonders.  In our Broader View, we talk about storing game components.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:45] - Card Drafting
[00:01:50] - Sushi Go Party
[00:15:23] - 7 Wonders
[00:34:11] - Comparison
[00:39:57] - Other Card Drafting Games
[00:43:14] - Broader View

This episode takes a look at two similar appearing games that are actually very different.  The category is Mad King Ludwig, who was actually King Ludwig II of Bavaria.  The games we're talking about today are Castles of Mad King Ludwig and The Palace of Mad King Ludwig, which are both tile laying games but play very distinctly from each other.  In our Broader View, we discuss aggressive gameplay and our personal reactions to it.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:41] - Mad King Ludwig
[00:01:59] - Castles of Mad King Ludwig
[00:17:43] - The Palace of Mad King Ludwig
[00:31:31] - Comparison
[00:41:55] - Other Tile Laying Games
[00:44:43] - Broader View

We're hoping that this episode is going to be the first in a series of episodes about Spiritual Successors of games (but if not it works well enough on its own!).  In our first installment of Spiritual Successors, we're taking a look at Eric Lang's series of mythology based area control games: Blood Rage and Rising Sun.  In our Broader View, we're talking about exclusive content in gaming.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:50] - Spiritual Successors
[00:01:26] - Blood Rage
[00:22:34] - Rising Sun
[00:34:37] - Comparison
[00:46:42] - Other Spiritual Successors
[00:49:35] - Broader View

This episode went a little bit longer than usual, but that's because we have been waiting to talk about Mindclash Games since we started this podcast!  Today we're looking at the two games that have been released by Mindclash to date: Anachrony and Trickerion.  In our Broader View, we give some advice about how to teach complicated games.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:32] - Mindclash Games
[00:01:35] - Anachrony
[00:24:43] - Trickerion: Legends of Illusion
[00:45:38] - Comparison
[00:48:51] - Other Games in the Same Style as Mindclash Games
[00:52:13] - Broader View

Today we're taking a look at a niche category of games, where players are divided into teams, and each member of the team is playing a different style of game.  Specifically, we're talking about Captain Sonar and Ladies & Gentlemen.  In our Broader View, we talk a bit more about teamwork in games.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:31] - Asymmetrical Team Games
[00:00:57] - Captain Sonar
[00:17:20] - Ladies & Gentlemen
[00:36:39] - Comparison
[00:44:06] - Other Asymmetrical or Team Games
[00:46:46] - Broader View

Inspired by Valentine's Day, this week's category is Two Player Games and we talk about Star Realms and 7 Wonders Duel.  In our Broader View, we talk about playing games with your significant other.  Also, we say "spoiler" a lot in this episode for some reason.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:32] - Two Player Games
[00:01:19] - Star Realms
[00:15:28] - 7 Wonders Duel
[00:27:47] - Comparison
[00:33:29] - Other Two Player Games
[00:39:05] - Broader View