So Very Wrong About Games

Say what you want about the evils of filthy lucre, but I find it amazing how managers turn communitarian and high-minded when it comes to fair remuneration. "Don't you believe in the project?" "Aren't you committed to the team?" et al get deployed all the time when people want to, you know, get compensated for their work. One can't help but notice that racialized workers and women get subjected to such nonsense at a higher-than-average rate. Volunteerism is noble and good, but stiffing workers is not. When someone is trying to elide the difference, you can bet that they're up to something.

Games Played Last Week:
01:12 -Wonderland's War (Tim Eisner, Ben Eisner, & Ian Moss, Druid City Games, 2022)
04:36 -Fantasy Realms: Deluxe Edition (Bruce Galssco, WizKids, 2022)
08:55 -Lands of Galzyr (Seppo Kuukasjärvi and Sami Laakso, Snowdale Design, 2022)
12:12 -Horizons of Spirit Island (R. Eric Reuss, Greater Than Games, 2022)
15:25 -Weather Machine (Vital Lacerda, Eagle-Gryphon Games, 2022)
19:01 -Resurgence (Stan Kordonskiy, Half-a-Kingdom Games, 2022)
22:17 -Darkest Dungeon: The Board Game (Nick Niotis and Argyris Poungouras, Mythic Games, 2022)
28:23 -Innovation (Carl Chudyk, Asmadi Games, 2010)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
30:10 HeroScape: Age of Annihilation fails to reach crowdfunding goal
32:40 Star Wars: Shatterpoint minis game from Atomic Mass
35:35 Hollandays Sale! Freebie "Watch Out! That's a Dracula!"
36:29 Expensive video game adaptation! Archon's Heroes of Might & Magic III, Steamforged's Elden Ring
38:07 Abusive labour practices in hobby businesses
https://www.dicebreaker.com/companies/pandasaurus-games/feature/pandasaurus-games-workers-allege-toxic-workplace-crunch-burnout-payment-issues

39:45 Feature Game: Dwellings of Eldervale (Luke Laurie, Breaking Games, 2020)

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Most of those time loop movies, while enjoyable, lack any degree of verisimilitude--clearly the chief use of a power to undo time or back up would be to get another chance at not saying something terribly stupid and embarrassing. One wonders if such time travelers would have a yet deeper reservoir of memories of sounding like a total cretin, even though those utterances were never said in the actual timeline (setting aside the multiverse version of time travel, or the "Infinite Douchebag" theory).

01:33 AYURIS: Anachrony: Fractures of Time (Richard Amann, Viktor Peter, Dávid Turczi, & Mindclash Games, 2020)

Games Played Last Week:
03:56 -Free Ride (Friedemann Friese, 2F-Spiele, 2021)
10:36 -Embryo Machine (Giguru Akiguchi and Toshimitsu Shigaki, LionWing Publishing, 2018)
11:31 -Monolyth (Phil Walker-Harding, CMON, 2022)
13:58 -Arcana Rising (Tim Armstrong, Grey Fox Games, 2021)
18:17 -Skymines (Viktor Kobilke and Alexander Pfister, Deep Print Games, 2022)
24:18 -Soda Smugglers (Reiner Knizia, Bitewing Games, 2022)
27:27 -Hot Lead (Reiner Knizia, Bitewing Games, 2022)
30:42 -Pumafiosi (Reiner Knizia, Bitewing Games, 2022)
33:55 -Tiny Turbo Cars (Hjalmar Hach, Alessandro Manuini, Jonathan Panada, Laura Severino, and Giulia Tamagni, Horrible Guild, 2022)
38:02 -Terra Nova (Andreas Faul, KOSMOS, 2022)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
42:16 New Patreon-exclusive show: WIRED, about our Oathsworn campaign.
42:37 Check your Patreon messages if you submitted to get a copy of Horizons of Spirit Island!
43:10 Tragedy Looper: New Tragedies by BakaFire
45:49 Michael Crossman's 100 Post Apocalyptic Vehicular Combat Accessories on Kickstarter
47:07 The Last of Us: Escape the Dark
48:48 Minimalist version of Gatefall by Jack Dire on Kickstarter

50:16 Topic: Dealing with Rules Mistakes

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"Let us go then, you and I,
When the board is spread out against the table
Like a beast euthanized inside a stable;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted tracks,
The muttering attacks
During restless nights of one-play bad games
And sepia box lids with familiar names:
Rules that follow like a tedious argument
Of soporific intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question ...
Oh, do not ask, “What to play?”
Let us go and have our say.

In the room the gamers come and stay
Talking of Asmodee."

-The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Games Played Last Week:
00:55 -Keep the Heroes Out (Luís Brüeh, Brueh Games, 2022)
06:49 -Air, Land, & Sea: Spies, Lies, & Supplies (Jon Perry, Arcane Wonders, 2022)
11:46 -Skymines (Viktor Kobilke and Alexander Pfister, Deep Print Games, 2022)
15:00 -Calimala (Fabio Lopiano, ADC Blackfire Entertainment GmbH, 2017)
18:46 -Resist! (Trevor Benjamin, Roger Tankersley, and David Thompson, Salt & Pepper Games, 2022)
21:25 -Tindaya (Lolo González, Red Mojo, 2022)
26:04 -Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood (Jamie Jolly, Shadowborne Games, 2022)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
31:36 Teotihuacan: Deluxe Version in 2023
32:23 Mosaic: Wars & Disasters Expansion on KS: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/954412004/mosaic-wars-and-disasters-expansion
33:28 From The Red Cathedral to The White Castle
35:15 Non-US patrons! Send us a Patreon message for a chance to get a copy of Target-exclsuive Horizons of Spirit Island
36:36 Slay the Spire on KS: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/contentiongames/slay-the-spire-the-board-game
41:36 Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn by Stephen Baker and ROb Daviau

43:16 Feature Game: Flamecraft (Manny Vega, Cardboard Alchemy, 2022)

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Replete with a robust menagerie in this episode, we perhaps begin to see why anthropomorphic animals seem to feature in every other game lately. We have Dalmations (plus a cow named Doog trying to impersonate a Dalmation), horsies, goats, weasels and wombats (seldom do we see such an august alliteration!), meeses (not to be confused with mooses), and some needed stinkin' badgers. Not a great petting zoo, sure--of limited utility in a game of Ark Nova--but an impressive collection nonetheless.

Games Played Last Week:
02:05 -Spots (Alex Hague, Jon Perry, and Justin Vickers, CMYK, 2022)
02:20 -Long Shot: The Dice Game (Chris Handy, Perplext, 2022)
03:37 -Mountain Goats (Stefan Risthaus, BoardGameTables.com, 2020)
06:10 -Mysterium Park (Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko, Libellud, 2020)
09:08 -Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood (Jamie Jolly, Shadowborne Games, 2022)
15:50 -Weasel-Tech (Ivan Sorensen, Nordic Weasel Games, 2021)
21:22 -Hand-to-Hand Wombat (Matthew Inman, Elan Lee, & Cory O'Brien, Exploding Kittens, 2022)
25:02 -Root: The Marauder Expansion (Nick Brachmann, Patrick Leder, Cole Wehrle, and Joshua Yearsley, Leder Games, 2022)
28:45 -Capital Lux 2: Generations (Eilif Svensson & Kristian Amundsen Østby, Aporta Games, 2020)
29:22 -I.S.S. Vanguard (Andrzej Betkiewicz, Krzysztof Piskorski, Paweł Samborski, and Marcin Świerkot, Awaken Realms, 2022)
36:08 -Cult of the Deep (Sam Stockton, B.A. Games, 2022)
39:58 -Strike (Dieter Nüßle, Ravensburger, 2012)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
42:40 Aegean Sea by Carl Chudyk on BackerKit
43:18 All sorts of Patreon-exclusive content and free games! www.patreon.com/svwag
44:27 Canadian patrons! Sent a message through Patreon to possibly win a copy of Horizons of Spirit Island: Tell us your Spirit Name!

46:08 Feature Game: Dead Reckoning (John D. Clair, Alderac Entertainment Group, 2022)

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We apologize for the all-caps implied yelling, but really, given this volume we had to have a corresponding... uh, volume. The puns are also somewhat fishy--but those you can feel free to skip, jack. The nautical theme doesn't end with fishing, as the recent Crash Octopus (when compared with older titles that are comparatively crusty) shone. More specifically given that it's about an octopus and we want to minimize the yelling, it's a safe, low pod.
Wait, no, that's the wrong family. If you wanna shop in latin... you mall, usque?

I'll see myself out.

1:04 AYURIS: Trick Shot (Nikita Krylov & Artyom Nichipurov, Wolff Designa, 2021)

Games Played Last Week:
03:27 -Lords of Hellas: Dark Ages Expansion (Adam Kwapiński, Awaken Realms, 2019)
09:43 -Hallertau (Uwe Rosenberg, Lookout Games, 2020)
12:27 -Keep the Heroes Out (Luís Brüeh, Brueh Games, 2022)
17:37 -Nusfjord (Uwe Rosenberg, Lookout Games, 2017)
21:49 -Santa Maria (Eilif Svensson and Kristian Amundsen Østby, Aporta Games, 2017)
25:47 -Spots (Alex Hague, Jon Perry, and Justin Vickers, CMYK, 2022)
29:37 -Long Shot: The Dice Game (Chris Handy, Perplext, 2022)
33:37 -Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood (Jamie Jolly, Shadowborne Games, 2022)
41:00 -Return to Dark Tower (Tim Burrell-Saward, Isaac Childres, Noah Cohen, Rob Daviau, Justin D. Jacobson, & Brian Neff, Restoration Games, 2022)
43:52 -Car Wars (Sixth Edition) (Samuel Mitschke & Rany Scheunemann, Steve Jackson Games, 2021)
49:39 -Twilight Inscription (James Kniffen, FFG, 2022)
51:47 -Space Cadets: Dice Duel (Geoff Engelstein and Sydney Engelstein, Stronghold, 2013)
53:56 -Scooby-Doo! The Board Game (Guilherme Goulart and Fred Perret, CMON, 2022)
57:32 -Guards of Atlantis II (Artyom Nichipurov, Wolff Designa, 2022)
1:02:50 -Chronicles of Avel (Przemek Wojtkowiak, Rebel Studio, 2021)
1:04:23 -Crash Octopus (Naotaka Shimamoto, itten, 2021)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
1:06:29 Funbrick Series by itten: two Reiner Knizia dexterity games!
1:07:19 Queen's Dilemma, and the consumer's dilemma
1:09:09 Spirit Island: Nature Incarnate on BackerKit. Strangely information-free campaign.
1:12:32 HeroScape campaign floundering.
1:14:08 Another G.I. JOE expansion: Cold Snap
1:14:37 Both Sadler brothers out of professional game design
1:15:26 A reason why we don't do previews
1:16:23 October 27th is Arkhipov Day

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Live at SHUX 2022, we are joined with extra-special guest Quinns from Shut Up and Sit Down! He was clearly thrilled to be with us, as evinced by the following exchange:

Mark: "We're professionals, Quinns."
Quinns: "Citation needed."

02:26 AYURIS: Hallertau (Uwe Rosenberg, Lookout Games, 2020)

Games Played Last Week:
05:11 -The Siege of Runedar (Reiner Knizia, Ludonova, 2021)
09:00 -Marrakesh (Stefan Feld, Queen Games, 2022)
14:18 -Endless Winter: Paleoamericans (Stan Kordonskiy, Fantasia Games, 2022)
20:24 -Sidereal Confluence 10m22s (TauCeti Deichmann, Wizkids, 2017)
25:49 -Regicide (Paul Abrahams, Luke Badger, & Andy Richdale, Badgers from Mars, 2020)
26:10 -Caverna: The Cave Farmers (Uwe Rosenberg, Lookout Games, 2013)
28:31 -Master Word (Gérald Cattiaux, Le Scorpion Masqué, 2020)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
32:42 Terraforming Mars: Dice Game
32:57 Reprint of Yellow & Yangtze: Huang by PHALANX
35:07 Temple of Horrors: Dungeon crawling with shuffleboard combat
36:55 October 27th is Akhipov Day

38:11 Topic: Games that Make You Be Mean

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We apologize for the poor quality of Mark's half of the audio this week. We offer two possible explanations. One is that Walker, motivated as he is by spite and malice, engaged in an elaborate act of sabotage so as to undermine Mark in public. The other is that Mark (the editor, mind you) messed up the audio settings. I agree that the latter is too improbable, too conspiratorial, to take seriously--but we include it for the sake of comprehensiveness.

Games Played Last Week:
01:32 -Twilight Inscription (James Kniffen, FFG, 2022)
05:15 -Heaven & Ale (Michael Kiesling & Andreas Schmidt, eggertspiele, 2017)
07:59 -Blood Rage (Eric Lang, CMON, 2015)
09:07 -Fun Facts (Kasper Lapp, Repos Production, 2022)
12:17 -Albedo: Space Pirates! (Kai Herbertz, Herbertz Entertainment UG, 2018)
13:44 -51st State: Master Set (Ignacy Trzewiczek, Portal, 2016)
14:31 -Renegade (Richard Wilkins, Victory Point Games, 2018)
17:31 -Flamecraft (Manny Vega, Cardboard Alchemy, 2022)
19:42 -Massive Darkness 2: Heavenfall (Alex Olteanu & Marco Portugal, CMON, 2021)
22:12 -Oneironauts (Oleksandr Nevskiy, IGAMES, 2022)
26:12 -Now Boarding (Tim Fowers, Fowers Games, 2018)
29:25 -Return to Dark Tower (Tim Burrell-Saward, Isaac Childres, Noah Cohen, Rob Daviau, Justin D. Jacobson, & Brian Neff, Restoration Games, 2022)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
33:40 Cthulhu: Death May Die Season 3 coming to KS
35:41 Persona 5 co-op card game by Atlus and Pandasaurus in October '23
36:12 Spiel in Essen! For example, Cyclades 2
37:03 SHUX '22 is a wrap! Thank you, everyone! Live show with Quinns incoming
37:39 Roundtable discussion with BGB released on Patreon, note about review copies
38:39 Video review of Space Station Phoenix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibG5qf1Rwm0
39:14 Daybreak by Matt Leacock on Backerkit
40:18 Arkhipov Day! In recognition of Vasily Arkhipiv saving the entire world on October 27, 1962, we celebrate Arkhipov Day on October 27th.

40:49 Feature Game: Heroscape (Stephen Baker, Rob Daviau, & Craig Van Ness, Hasbro, 2004)

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001
You approach a door. Test perception. If you fail, go to paragraph 105. If you succeed, go to paragraph 166.

105
You fail to notice a sharp thing, so you step on it and take 1 wound. Go to paragraph 166.

166
On the other side of the door are things you must kill for reasons. Dig out tiles 2B, 4A, 6A, 8B and 12B and get ready for some paperwork.

02:23 AYURIS: Tungaru (Louis Malz & Stefan Malz, Alley Cat Games, 2020)

Games Played Last Week:
03:48 -Blood Rage (Eric Lang, CMON, 2015)
06:29 -Wormholes (Peter McPherson, Alderac Entertainment Group, 2022)
09:16 -Envelopes of Cash (Andy Schwarz, Envelopes of Cash LLC, 2022)
13:52 -Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan (Gordon Calleja, Mighty Boards, 2023)
18:44 -Albedo: Yggdrasil (Kai Herbertz, Herbertz Entertainment UG, 2019)
22:47 -Anachrony: Fractures of Time (Richard Amann, Viktor Peter, Dávid Turczi, & Mindclash Games, 2020)
27:58 -Trudvang Legends (Jordy Adan, Fel Barros, Guilherme Goulart, Eric M. Lang, Marco Maggi, Francesco Nepitello, Umberto Pignatelli, & Fabio Tola, 2022)
34:13 -Long Shot: The Dice Game (Chris Handy, Perplext, 2022)
37:10 -Hanabi (Antoine Bauza, ABACUSSPIELE, 2010)
40:42 -G.I. Joe Deck-Building Game: Shadow of the Serpent Expansion (Matt Hyra, Renegade Game Studios, 2022)
42:45 -The Mirroring of Mary King (Jim Felli, Devious Weasel Games, 2022)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
44:45 SHUX! September 30-October 2. SVWAG on stage for two live shows on October 1.
46:25 We stream games on Twitch and rebroadcast those session on Youtube! Most recently, Anachrony.
47:09 Space Dwarfs aka "Squats" from Games Workshop:
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2022/09/13/welcome-to-the-big-leagues-who-are-the-five-biggest-leagues-of-votann/
47:50 Fuse: Countdown expandalone

48:21 Topic: What a Campaign Needs

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Even the steadfastly Imperial Americans are familiar with metric measurements of distance, volume, and temperature; but alas, the metric French Republican calendar has fallen by the wayside. Consisting of 12 months of exactly 30 days each (3 10-day weeks) with 5 (or 6, for leap years) interstitial days called "complementary days." I mean, you couldn't call them holidays what with your trying to purge religious influence on your calendar! In a fun twist, each of the 360 normal days, instead of Saint's Days, was meant to commemorate the "treasures of the rural economy." Like horseradish day (Frimaire 12), or rabbit day (Nivôse 15). Even more exotic was metric time, and don't get me started on that.

Games Played Last Week:
01:31 -Tobago: Volcano (Bruce Allen, Zoch Verlag, 2020)
03:50 -Ascension Tactics: Miniatures Deckbuilding Game (Justin Gary & Ryan Sutherland, Stone Blade Entertainment, 2021)
06:18 -Uprising: Curse of the Last Emperor (Cornelius Cremin, Pawel Mazur, & Dirk Sommer, Nemesis.Games, 2021)
08:50 -Resist! (Trevor Benjamin, Roger Tankersley, & David Thompson, Salt & Pepper Games, 2022)
14:07 -The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Menzel, KOSMOS, 2021)
15:44 -Regicide (Paul Abrahams, Luke Badger, & Andy Richdale, Badgers from Mars, 2020)
16:38 -51st State: Master Set (Ignacy Trzewiczek, Portal, 2016)
18:16 -Swords around the Throne (Renaud Verlaque, My Kind of Games, 2022)
23:23 -Wormholes (Peter McPherson, Alderac Entertainment Group, 2022)
27:04 -Blitz Bowl: Season 2 (James M. Hewitt, Games Workshop Ltd., 2020)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
33:07 SHUX! September 30-October 2. SVWAG on stage for two live shows on October 1.
33:22 Unboxed: Board Game Experience and Design by Gordon Calleja and MIT Press releases October 4.
34:13 Pandemic everything! Star Wars: The Clone Wars--A Pandemic System Game
34:35 Mac Gerdts' Crossing Oceans
35:43 International Gamers Awards winners announced: Carnegie, Ark Nova, and Cascadia.
[EDIT: In the broadcast we mistakenly refer to the International Gamers Awards as the International Gaming Awards. We apologize for the error.]
36:14 Disney trading card game: Disney Lorcana

37:47 Feature Game: Capital Lux 2: Generations (Eilif Svensson & Kristian Amundsen Østby, Aporta Games, 2020)

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We encourage elaborate deception in this week's episode. Go on designers, up your game. While we can't accept anything from you in terms of gifts or donations, you can totally fool us. Stack yourselves three deep in a trenchcoat! Pretend to be long-lost, estranged, and newly-dead relatives! Don silly hats and fake moustaches!

Games Played Last Week:
01:00 -Monumental (Matthew Dunstan, Funforge, 2020)
06:37 -Spirit Island: Jagged Earth (R. Eric Reuss, Greater Than Games, 2020)
08:52 -Ragusa (Fabio Lopiano, Braincrack Games, 2019)
12:52 -Dead Reckoning (John D. Clair, Alderac Entertainment Group, 2022)
18:04 -Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Collector's Edition (Ted Alspach, Bézier Games, 2022)
22:04 -Space Weirdos: A Skirmish Heartbreaker (Casey Garske, Garske Games, 2021)
27:29 -Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood (Jamie Jolly, Shadowborne Games, 2022)
34:38 -Battlecrest: Fellwoods Base Game (Dustin Dobson & Milan Zivkovic, Button Shy, 2022)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
37:53 We have a Patreon. Please keep mum about it, designers! www.patreon.com/svwag
39:11 Fun Facts by Repos Production
39:40 David Thompson and BeyondSolitaire working on a game about the Night Witches
40:31 Almost Innocent on KS: co-op deduction
40:52 Come Together and hold a music festival

41:44 Feature Game: Mosaic: A Story of Civilization (Glenn Drover, Forbidden Games, 2022)

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