So Very Wrong About Games

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

Fatal Fury 3's subtitle was Road to the Final Victory, ironic given that there were then four more Fatal Fury titles (the first's subtitle was The King of Fighters, which is its own huge delightful kettle of fish). While Fatal Fury Special (the actual third Fatal Fury title, which made 3 the fourth, please do keep up) was worthy in its own right, 3 is clearly where the Fatal Fury series hit its stride. This is to say nothing of the introductions of Ryuji Yamazaki and Blue Mary!It's either this or Kant, folks. 01:25 AYURIS: Dogs of War (Paolo Mori, CMON, 2014)Games Played Last Week:03:12 -Cosmic Frog (Jim Felli, Devious Weasel Games, 2020)06:20 -Flotilla (J.B. Howell & Michael Mihealsick, WizKids, 2019)07:55 -Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape (Alex Olteanu & Marco Portugal, CMON, 2022)09:29 -Dead and Breakfast (Rodrigo Rego, Braincrack Games, 2018)12:12 -So, You've Been Eaten (Scott Almes, LudiCreations, 2022)16:13 -Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan (Gordon Calleja, Mighty Boards, 2023)20:27 -I

Not every game needs to be four huge boxes full of other boxes and plastic. Some can be delightfully simple games... with boxes that are too big due to crowdfunding. Other games could be underappreciated Reiner Knizia classics brought to a new underappreciating audience! Via, I guess, the medium of crowdfunding. Hm. I suppose I don't have a point, except that we, like pearls before swine or a Knizia before a gamer, are ungrateful contradictory ingrates.Games Played Last Week:01:58 -Meadow (Klemens Kalicki, Rebel Studio, 2021)07:26 -Chronicles of Avel (Przemek Wojtkowiak, Rebel Studio, 2021)10:42 -Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape (Alex Olteanu & Marco Portugal, CMON, 2022)13:36 -Noli (Jack Caesar & Alessio Cavatore, River Horse Ltd., 2022)18:40 -Barrage: The Leeghwater Project (Tommaso Battista & Simone Luciani, Cranio Creations, 2019)22:30 -Stephenson's Rocket (Reiner Knizia, Pegasus Spiele, 1999)25:19 -The Mirroring of Mary King (Jim Felli, Devious Weasel Games, 2022)29:05 -Oathsworn: Into t

I met a gamer from an antique landWho said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of plasticStand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,Tell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:And on the pedestal these words appear:'My name is Cool Mini or Not, Kickstarter of Kickstarters.Look on my pledges ye Mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that Colossal Wreck, boundless and bareThe lone and level sands stretch far away.-Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Cool Mini or Not"01:17 AYURIS: Empyreal: Spells & Steam (Trey Chambers, Level 99 Games, 2020)Games Played Last Week:03:21 -Marvel Dice Throne (Gavan Brown, Nate Chatellier, & Manny Trembley, Roxley, 2022)05:39 -Yggdrasil Chronicles (Cédric Lefebvre, Ludonaute, 2019)09:51 -Brian Boru: High King of Ireland (Peer Sylvester, Osprey Games, 20

The Smart Car was truly out-of-the-box thinking. "Why do passenger cars all have to be the way they are?" asked some clever group of designers, and designed the minimalistic teensy Smart Car. Of course, the challenges posed by manufacturing the little thing, or driving the little thing on a highway, or walking away from a crash in the little thing, proved to be compelling arguments in favour of more traditional passenger car manufacture. What I'm saying is that sometimes the box exists for a reason, notwithstanding the virtues of experimentation. Games Played Last Week:01:48 -The Guild of Merchant Explorers (Matthew Dunstan & Brett J. Gilbert, AEG, 2022)06:25 -Street Masters (Adam Sadler & Brady Sadler, Blacklist Games, 2018)11:37 -Oltréé (Antoine Bauza & John Grümph, Studio H, 2021) 17:08 -Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape (Alex Olteanu & Marco Portugal, CMON, 2022)21:46 -Paint the Roses (Ben Goldman, North Star Games, 2022)24:04 -Groundhog Day: The Game (Propsero Hall, Funko Games,

There was a time you could just stroll in a big box store in the United States and just buy a miniatures skirmish game that was actually pretty good. Sure, it didn't have analog movement or anything, but it used true line of sight and had amazing plastic terrain. So much plastic. Like, a whole lot. One the one hand, Hasbro says they're bringing HeroScape back, but on the other, ain't no way it's coming back the same as it was. They're going to bleed us dry for those little pre-painted dolls--even assuming they're still pre-painted, that is.Games Played Last Week:02:22 -My Father's Work (T.C. Petty III, Renegade Game Studios, 2022)04:20 -Kleos (Jim Kavanagh, Azure Horizon Games, 2021)08:14 -Meeple War (Max Valembois, Blue Cocker Games, 2016)10:23 -Imperium: The Contention (Gary Dworetsky, Contention Games, 2021)12:24 -Neuroshima Hex! 3.0: Beasts (Joanna Kijanka, Portal Games, 2021)13:48 -Catch the Moon (Fabien Riffaud & Juan Rodriguez, Bombyx, 2017)15:09 -A Feast for Odin: The N

Times are bad. Children no longer listen to their elders and everyone is running a Kickstarter. When I started this hobby I had no idea I would get a crash course in international shipping and logistics. Back in the day you might have had a friend in Germany send you the hot new thing, now you're tracking to see when the container ship with your stuff gets to leave port in China. 01:24 AYURIS: Beyond the Sun (Dennis K. Chan, Rio Grande Games, 2020)Games Played Last Week:03:42 -Legacy of Dragonholt (Nikki Valens with Daniel Clark, Tim Flanders, Annie VanderMeer Mitsoda, & Greg Spyridis, FFG, 2017)09:51 -Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Scrawlers--Heroes of Undermountain (Vangelis Bagiartakis & Konstantinos Karagiannis, Wizkids, 2021)11:36 -The Great Wall (Kamil 'Sanex' Cieśla, Robert Plesowicz, & Łukasz Włodarczyk, Awaken Realms, 2021)15:08 -Eriantys (Leo Colovini, Cranio Creations, 2021)20:28 -Northgard: Uncharted Lands (Adrian Dinu, Shiro Games, 2022)26:14 -Space Station Phoenix (Gabr

Much talk of animals this week, what with wombats and mass animal harvesting in Stroganov. Mark's experience was that despite covering many hot-button issues in his medical ethics classes, the one that invariably produced the most voluble emotional responses was that of medical testing on animals. Pit Bull owners, in particular; despite there being no medical testing of the type discussed on Pit Bulls. Go figure. Games Played Last Week:01:03 -San Francisco (Reiner Knizia, Rebel Studio, 2022)04:44 -Ca$h 'n Guns: Second Edition (Ludovic Maublanc, Repos Production, 2014) 06:69 -Carnegie (Xavier Georges, Quined Games, 2022)08:15 -Vengeance (Gordon Calleja, Mighty Boards, 2018)10:17 -Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Scrawlers--Heroes of Undermountain (Vangelis Bagiartakis & Konstantinos Karagiannis, Wizkids, 2021)12:58 -Dungeons, Dice & Danger (Richard Garfield, alea, 2022)15:44 -Space Station Phoenix (Gabriel J. Cohn, Rio Grande Games, 2022)20:09 -The Great Wall (Kamil 'Sanex' Cieśla, Rober

We celebrate the release of a palindrome episode with the glorious news of the return of SHUX, the Shut Up & Sit Down Expo. Perhaps more relevantly, SVWAG are invited guests! Both Mark and Walker will be in Vancouver from September 30th to October 2nd. Now that you know where they will be, you can more efficiently avoid them. Or you could go play a game with them, whatevs.02:54 AYURIS: Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef (Tim Eisner & Ben Eisner, Druid City Games, 2020)Games Played Last Week:05:45 -Vengeance: Roll & Fight (Gordon Calleja, Noralie Lubbers, & Dávid Turczi, Mighty Boards, 2022)10:05 -Regicide (Paul Abrahams, Luke Badger, & Andy Richdale, Badgers from Mars, 2020)10:52 -Scape Goat (Jon Perry, Indie Boards & Cards, 2020)12:54 -Battlelore 2nd Edition (Richard Borg & Robert A. Kouba, FFG, 2013)15:57 -Millennium Blades: Collusion (Joshua Van Laningham & D. Brad Talton, Jr., Level 99 Games, 2021)21:32 -Golem (Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, & Simone Luciani, Cranio Cr

It's a weird little thematic disconnect when you're not sure who or what your avatar in-game is. Perhaps we have swallowed corporate personhood so fully that we can easily accept playing as a corporation but balk a little at an amorphous group of power brokers--or a faceless protagonist channeling tree spirits.Games Played Last Week:01:51 -The Great Wall (Kamil 'Sanex' Cieśla, Robert Plesowicz, & Łukasz Włodarczyk, Awaken Realms, 2021)08:19 -Stars of Akarios (Brendan McCaskell & Jonathan Thwaites, OOMM, 2022)12:16 -Messina 1347 (Raúl Fernández Aparicio & Vladimír Suchý, Delicious Games, 2021)[EDIT: An earlier version of this episode uncritically parroted the dodgy history of the game's purported setting. We apologize for the error and will address it further.]13:56 -So Clover! (François Romain, Repos Production, 2021)16:01 -Rush Out! (Thomas Dupont, Sit Down!, 2021)19:43 -Vengeance: Roll & Fight (Gordon Calleja, Noralie Lubbers, & Dávid Turczi, Mighty Boards, 2022)23:30

Enjoy the works of Thomas Lehmann while you can! Despite the lack of player interaction of Dice Realms, Mr. Lehmann has violated local, provincial, and federal law by not supplying a solo mode. International treaty has also been flouted by the absence of a campaign. I fear he may be put in boardgame jail as a consequence. Can he build a tableau convincing enough as his defence? His attorney, Dr. Gonzo, does not inspire much confidence.Games Played Last Week:01:01 -Titan (Matthieu Podevin, Holy Grail Games, 2022)09:25 -Carnegie (Xavier Georges, Quined Games, 2022)12:58 -Core Worlds: Nemesis (Andrew Parks, Quixotic Games, 2021)16:36 -Transmissions (Adam West, CrossCut Games, 2022)19:11 -burncycle (Josh J. Carlson & Shannon Wedge, Chip Theory Games, 2022)21:41 -Lancaster: Big Box (Matthias Cramer & Wolfgang Panning, Queen Games, 2015)27:49 -Sleeping Gods (Ryan Laukat, Red Raven Games, 2021)31:21 -Shamans (Cédrick Chaboussit, Studio H, 2021)News (and why it doesn't matter):34:49 FlickFleet: Xeno Wars

Mark had to reign himself in considerably this week, what with the song temptations of the Talking Heads followed by his favourite torch song teased by Welcome to the Moon. He also tried to workshop a Gourds of Atlantis joke, but responses were--to put it mildly--not encouraging. It wasn't a total loss, as he managed to sneak in some Norse mythology in Telestrations. So that's... something.Games Played Last Week:01:11 -XenoShyft: Onslaught (Keren Philosophales & Michael Shinall, CMON, 2015)06:21 -Azul: Queen's Garden (Michael Kiesling, Next Move Games, 2021)09:55 -Spirit Island (R. Eric Reuss, Greater Than Games, 2017)11:42 -Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Scrawlers--Heroes of Undermountain (Vangelis Bagiartakis & Konstantinos Karagiannis, Wizkids, 2021)13:41 -Telestrations (Uncredited, USAopoly, 2009)19:17 -Trickerion: Legends of Illusion (Richard Amann & Viktor Peter, Mindclash Games, 2015)20:40 -Psycho Killer (Michael Wilkinson, Escape Tabletop Games, 2020)23:47 -Welcome to the Moon

The dam has burst, and the flow of large player-count games rushes without signs of abating. We are willing to be sufficiently foolhardy to gather in larger groups, so the demand for 6+ player games has skyrocketed; and with it, the chance to return to old favourites. Dare we call it... a party?Games Played Last Week:02:22 -Guards of Atlantis II (Artyom Nichipurov, Wolff Designa, 2022)07:46 -Thor (Reiner Knizia, Heidelberger Spieleverlag, 2002)10:37 -Reichbusters: Project Vril (Jake Thornton, Mythic Games, 2020) 12:13 -Just One (Ludovic Roudy & Bruno Sautter, Repos Production, 2018)13:28 -Wits & Wagers (Dominic Crapuchettes, North Star Games, 2005)13:58 -For Sale: Advisors (Stefan Dorra, Eagle-Gryphon Games, 2021)17:39 -The Guild of Merchant Explorers (Matthew Dunstan & Brett J. Gilbert, AEG, 2022)19:21 -Empyreal: Spells & Steam (Trey Chambers, Level 99 Games, 2020)21:20 -Yak (Michael Luu, Pretzel Games, 2022)23:28 -Trial by Trolley (Scott Hauser, Skybound Games, 2020)26:59 -The Chameleon (Rik

Walker yearns for a universal grammar, a sort of iconograhic Esperanto. That is a bridge too far for Mark, but they nonetheless find common ground on certain time terms and certain graphical conventions. They may be alone, of course, but they would rather that everyone deferred to their intuitions.01:17 AYURIS: The Castles of Tuscany (Stefan Feld, alea, 2020)Games Played Last Week:03:17 -Unsettled (Marc Neidlinger & Tom Mattson, Orange Nebula, 2021)08:45 -Sniper Elite: The Board Game (Roger Tankersly & David Thompson, Rebellion Unplugged, 2022)12:48 -Hidden Leaders (Andreas Müller, Markus Müller, & Raphael Stocker, BFF Games, 2022)15:18 -For Science! (R. Eric Reuss, Grey Fox Games, 2021)17:41 -Stars of Akarios (Brendan McCaskell & Jonathan Thwaites, OOMM, 2022)25:13 -Omicron Protocol (Brendan Kendrick & Bernie Lin, Dead Alive Games, 2022)31:14 -Ark Nova (Mathias Wigge, Feuerland Spiele, 2021)32:10 -Warpgate (Artyom Nichipurov, Wolff Designa, 2018)33:45 -Shards of Infinity (Gary Arant &

After a purgatorial thirteen months, Mark will be released from his Cain-like wanderings and allowed to repatriate to Kingston where he will get to be home. He figures that if Immanuel Kant got to be world famous before the age of global communications without leaving a 50 kilometer radius of his hometown, he has more than paid his dues. If anyone wants him to attend a function in the future, they had best plan on getting married and/or dying in close proximity to Mark's home.01:43 AYURIS: Lost Ruins of Arnak (Elwen & Mín, CGE, 2020)Games Played Last Week:03:51 -Foundations of Rome (Emerson Matsuuichi, Arcane Wonders, 2022)07:05 -Golem (Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, & Simone Luciani, Cranio Creations, 2021)10:56 -Token Terrors: Battlegrounds (John de Campos & Phillip Doccolo, Terrible Games, 2020)16:50 -Switch & Signal (David Thompson, KOSMOS, 2020)19:13 -Unsettled (Marc Neidlinger & Tom Mattson, Orange Nebula, 2021)27:09 -Ark Nova (Mathias Wigge, Feuerland Spiele, 2021)28:21 -The

Multi-Deck System Games! Canadian content! Kevin Bacon! So many digressions in an episode packed with so much culture it couldn't even fit in one of Vin Diesel's muscle shirts. We do, however, focus on games long enough to rhetorically ask--with several stress patterns--of David Thompson: who is this guy? As a note, during the time of the taping of this episode, David Thompson released five more excellent board games. Oh, sorry, I type slowly, make that six. 01:23 AYURIS: Fort (Grant Rodiek, Leder Games, 2020)Games Played Last Week:03:36 -Contra: The Board Game (Adam Sadler & Brady Sadler, Blacklist Games, 2022)08:23 -Hour of Need (Adam Sadler & Brady Sadler, Blacklist Games, 2022) 13:58 -Paint the Roses (Ben Goldman, North Star Games, 2022)17:41 -Sniper Elite: The Board Game (Roger Tankersly & David Thompson, Rebellion Unplugged, 2022)24:31 -SCOUT (Kei Kajino, Oink Games, 2019)26:48 -Hidden Leaders (Andreas Müller, Markus Müller, & Raphael Stocker, BFF Games, 2022) 30:09 -Foundations

On Mark's drive across Canada (the first time), he stopped in Drumheller, Alberta for some dinosaur tourism. It has a truly impressive nodosaur specimen. The nodosaur is a close relative of the ankylosaur, a key difference being the former's lack of a thagomizer, the club-like appendage at the end of an ankylosaur's tail. Mark bought a plastic ankylosaur as a souvenir. Its name is Angie.Perseverance doesn't have any ankylosaurs or nodosaurs. A shame. Games Played Last Week:00:53 -Planet Unknown (Ryan Lambert & Adam Rehberg, Adam's Apple Games, 2022)04:53 -Carnegie (Xavier Georges, Quined Games, 2022)11:16 -Imperium: Legends (Nigel Buckle & Dávid Turczi, Osprey Games, 2021)15:08 -Titan (Matthieu Podevin, Holy Grail Games, 2022)21:19 -Hour of Need (Adam Sadler & Brady Sadler, Blacklist Games, 2022)27:25 -Get on Board: New York & London (Saashi, IELLO, 2022)28:31 -Omicron Protocol (Brendan Kendrick & Bernie Lin, Dead Alive Games, 2022)News (and why it doesn't matter):3

We received a number of questions of a more personal nature which we have decided not to address. This is only partially out of a sense of privacy. Rather, we are firmly of the editorial position that the show is best when we focus on games, rather than the personal details of the hosts. We pride ourselves in only wasting a certain amount of your valuable time, and were we to indulge in more personal digressions that could easily balloon the show well beyond the limits of absurdity. 01:08 AYURIS: Flotilla (J.B. Howell & Michael Mihealsick, WizKids, 2019)Games Played Last Week:04:10 -Ark Nova (Mathias Wigge, Feuerland Spiele, 2021)07:26 -Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape (Alex Olteanu & Marco Portugal, CMON, 2022)11:40 -Foundations of Rome (Emerson Matsuuichi, Arcane Wonders, 2022)13:31 -Planet Unknown (Ryan Lambert & Adam Rehberg, Adam's Apple Games, 2022)17:45 -Ghosts of Christmas (Taiki Shinzawa, BoardGameTables.com, 2022)20:00 -Imperium: The Contention (Gary Dworetsky, Contention Games, 2021)21

Inquiring minds demand to know, and we, your humble servants, must perforce answer. Mark resists the urge to elaborate on Kant and Macross! Walker resists the siren call of nineties hip hop! Such feats of iron will are the least of what our curious and/or trolling listeners deserve.(It's the curious trolls that always get you in the end)01:21 AYURIS: Babylonia (Reiner Knizia, Ludonova, 2019)Games Played Last Week:03:05 -Switch & Signal (David Thompson, KOSMOS, 2020)05:30 -Cryptid: Urban Legends (Hal Duncan & Ruth Veevers, Osprey Games, 2022)09:21 -Horrified: American Monsters (Michael Mulvihill, Ravensburger, 2021)11:48 -Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape (Alex Olteanu & Marco Portugal, CMON, 2022)18:29 -Perseverance: Castaway Chronicles Episode 1 (Richard Amann, Thomas Vande Ginste, Viktor Peter, Wolf Plancke, & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2022)22:42 -Core Worlds: Empires (Christopher Guild & Andrew Parks, Quixotic Games, 2021)30:47 -Paint the Roses (Ben Goldman, North Star Games, 2022)

I wanna be where the patients areI wanna see, wanna see 'em coughin'Buildin' your wings, you don't get too farClients are required for billing, chargingUp where they sneeze, up where they shudderUp where they stay all day just to sufferTreatin' for a fee, wish I could bePart of that world01:37 AYURIS: Cosmic Frog (Jim Felli, Devious Weasel Games, 2020)Games Played Last Week:04:10 -Wonderland's War (Tim Eisner, Ben Eisner, & Ian Moss, Druid City Games, 2022)10:04 -Décorum (Harry Mackin, Charlie Mackin, & Drew Tenenbaum, Floodgate Games, 2022)14:48 -Crescent Moon (Steven Mathers, Osprey Games, 2022)23:07 -Gutenberg (Katarzyna Cioch & Wojciech Wiśniewski, Granna, 2021) 26:06 -Jekyll vs. Hyde (Geonil, Mandoo Games, 2021)28:30 -Stroganov (Andreas Steding, Game Brewer, 2021)31:01 -Ark Nova (Mathias Wigge, Feuerland Spiele, 2021)39:25 -Hippocrates (Alain Orban, Game Brewer, 2022)42:31 -Clinic Deluxe Edition (Alban Viard, AVStudioGames, 2019)News (and why it doesn't matter):46: