We have finally come home from the cozy town of Coral Gardens, and we have a lot of thoughts. Samara and Mike discuss worldbuilding games vs "tradtional" RPGs, the value of a game throwing you curveballs, and games as escapism.

Cozy Town is a Sword Queen game by Jamila R. Nedjadi (@temporalhiccup on Twitter) and is available at https://temporalhiccup.itch.io/cozy-town.

Welcome to our cozy little town! Mike and Samara are joined by special guest Kate as we create a thriving little village where everyone looks out for each other. Join us for a warm fuzzy time in our precious welcoming community. 

Cozy Town is a Sword Queen game by Jamila R. Nedjadi (@temporalhiccup on Twitter) and is available at https://temporalhiccup.itch.io/cozy-town. 

Off of our gameplay session of Spoken Magic, we discuss the highs and lows. Samara and Mike have a wide-ranging conversation about the nature of language, the dissonance between narrative and mechanic, and how the game shifts between the grounded and the metaphysical.

Words have power, and this week we speak magical phrases as a trio of adventuring mages who journey across the land to find themselves. What dangers and wisdom awaits?

We've emerged from the dangers of the forest after playing Trophy and talk about how we feel. We discuss the interplay of joint authorship, the nature of horror gaming, and Mike's opinions on French cinema.

Trophy Dark is made by Jesse Ross and is available on DriveThruRPG and trophyrpg.com.

The forest is dark and full of terrors. This week, we play Trophy Dark, a mind-bending game about doomed treasure hunters and a forest that seeks to protect itself from all invaders. Will our players survive, or have their minds and bodies broken? And in the end, will they be claimed as a trophy?

Trophy Dark is made by Jesse Ross and is available on DriveThruRPG and trophyrpg.com. 

She's a product manager living in Brooklyn about to wed the love of her life. However, she's got to survive her off-kilter sidhe grandmother who has come back from beyond the divide! Hijinks ensue as we take on Our Mundane Supernatural Life, a warm and fuzzy 2-player game by Vee Hendro and Hayley Gordon. 

Our Mundane Supernatural Life is available at https://storybrewersroleplaying.com/ourmundanesupernaturallife/. 

So that was a thing. Did Umlaut live up to their lofty ambitions of letting us live out our metal dreams? Or is the shine on this game a bit dulled? Mike and April-Lyn do a deep dive on what didn't work for them while playing. 

Umlaut: Game of Metal is made by Rich Stokes and is available on DriveThruRPG (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/79824/Umlaut-Game-of-Metal).

This week we enter the world of face melters, sick beards, and rock gods as we strive to become the greatest metal bands the world has ever seen. We are also joined by two incredible metalhead guests, Elana and John, who take Mike and April-Lyn to school on the ins and outs of metal culture. 

Umlaut: Game of Metal is made by Rich Stokes and is available on DriveThruRPG (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/79824/Umlaut-Game-of-Metal). 

Elana is the host of Graphic Policy Radio (blogtalkradio.com/graphicpolicy) and can be found on Twitter @Elana_Brooklyn.

John is part of Comix Connection (comixconnection.com) and can be found on Twitter and Instagram @QuasarSniffer. 

We've wrapped our Fiasco in London, and get together to discuss how we felt about it. Does Fiasco do enough to actually push the characters we created into a big beautiful mess? How do we feel about this seminal indie TTRPG more than a decade after its launch?

Fiasco is available from Bully Pulpit Games (https://bullypulpitgames.com/games/fiasco/). Our particular playbook, Bookhounds Fiasco, is made by Pelgrane Press and is based on their Trail of Cthulhu game. (https://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/bookhounds-fiasco-playset/)