September 17, 2022
This week Julius teaches me about the game Project L. L stands for that shape of piece in games like Tetris (or Project L), for example. This is a polyomino game in which you are collecting and upgrading pieces to fit onto boards in order to complete the boards and get points. It's a rather interesting sounding game and, by the way, the components look really good.
September 10, 2022
This week we have one of our Popular Mechancis episodes; but, this week we cheat! We don't talk about a game mechanic per se. Instead, we talk about big games. What the heck does that mean though? Julius and I talk about good games we each think are big. What are your favorite big games?
- 06:00 Pandemic Legacy: Season 0 (BGG)
- 09:15 Arkham Horro (2nd Edition) (BGG)
- 10:40 Anachrony (BGG)
- 15:25 Ironsworn (RPG Geek)
- 21:10 Mechs vs. Minions (BGG)
- 24:20 Mage Knight Board Game (BGG)
- 24:55 SpaceCorp: 2025-2300AD (BGG)
September 3, 2022
We brought in our in-house real-time game expert, Julius to discuss Paramedics: Clear. As hinted above, it is a real-time game in which you play a paramedic rushing to save lives at time runs out.
August 27, 2022
This week Julius and I finally get around to talking about the 3rd Fantasy Flight co-operative LCG, Marvel Champions. In this game you play as a super-hero trying to stop a villain from their evil scheme. The game can be played with the pre-built hero-decks or you can do some pre-game deck construction to build some really powerful heroes.
August 20, 2022
We took another 1 week break but we come back with a two game discussion! Okay, they are both small games and this episode ended up being a bit shorter than most but that's okay. This week's games are similar in that in both you are lining up cards in numerical order. Each supports 1 to 5 players and each seems fun. Mind you, Julius and I each have only played one of the two games so we can't really compare if one is more fun than other but we can both say the game we played is definitely fun!
August 6, 2022
This week Julius tells me all about the game Kingdom Rush: Monsters, based on the tower defense for mobile devices. The game's art and theme comes straight out of the video game and does a good job of copying the setting, but is it a tower defense game? Julius doesn't think so. Listen and get the scoop!
July 30, 2022
This week is one of our "long running" Popular Mechanics episodes. This time around we look at deck building in solo games and talk a bit about some we like.
- 04:11 Friday (BGG)
- 07:08 Maiden's Quest (BGG)
- 11:27 Star Realms (BGG)
- 12:15 Star Realms: Frontiers (BGG)
- 14:13 Big Book of Madness (BGG)
- 15:00 Lewis and Clark (BGG)
- 20:20 Newton (BGG)
- 20:57 Rune Age (BGG)
- 24:18 Edge of Darkness (BGG)
- 27:31 The LOOP (BGG)
- 30:14 Warp's Edge (BGG)
Games I wrote down but didn't talk about
- Lost Ruins of Arnak (BGG)
- Thunderstone Advanced (BGG)
- Paperback (BGG)
- Valley of the Kings (BGG)
- Groves (BGG)
- Clank! (BGG)
July 23, 2022
This week, we look at a board game based on the classic Choose Your Own Adventure series originally published by Bantam. In these classic game books, you are the hero of the story and as you read through, you get to make choices that very much affect how the story continues. This was managed with a branching story in which you would read the book out of order.
This game tries to recreate that experience using one of the classic books, number 15 in the series. It does a great job of making you feel like you are reading an old CYOA book but using cards instead of a book.
If you want to explore the House of Danger, listen to episode 264.
If you would rather avoid the House of Danger, go back to episode 263.
July 16, 2022
This week Julius and I, after taking a 1 week break from the podcast, take a 1 week break from talking about games. That's because this week we talk about puzzles in their various forms. This is just a friendly chat about the types of puzzles we enjoy. There are sooooo many types of puzzles it's not hard to find one that will suit you.
Here are some things we mentioned
- Math logic puzzles
- Word puzzles
- Think Fun
- Logic puzzles
- Jigsaw puzzles
July 2, 2022
This week I tell Julius about the rather large Kanban EV. This game is a re-implementation of the original Kanban and designed by Vital Lacerda. This quite complex and challenging game was rather fancily produced by Eagle-Gryphon Games. We talk about the game play and mechanics of the game without getting too deep into the details of how to play.
June 25, 2022
This episode is a bit different from the typical episode and that it doesn't really talk bout a game. This week I have the pleasure of talking to Al Leduc, the designer of Yukon Airways. Julius and I discussed this game two weeks ago. I found the designer notes in the beginning of the rulebook really interested so I invited the designer to come talk about the back story of the game. I found the conversation interesting because it gives some perspective to theme of the game and, hopefully, makes the game more interesting for those folks that are playing it.
- I think this is the Taco Bar at the confluence of the Wind River and the Peel River in the Yukon. (Google Maps)
June 18, 2022
This week Julius and I look at solo drafting games along with the helping, I'm sorry to say, of some barking dogs. We talk a bit about what is or isn't a drafting game and briefly go over a half dozen or so games worth looking into. While editing, I realized we completely overlooked a very obvious choice... Gates of Loyang. Darned, darned, darned. It's an excellent example because the drafting mechanism in solo is much better than the multiplayer drafting.
- 03:45 - Clank! (BGG)
- 04:25 - Cascadia (BGG)
- 05:50 - Nations: The Dice Game (BGG)
- 07:30 - Hostage Negotiator (BGG)
- 12:55 - Canvas (BGG)
- 14:45 - Mechs vs Minions (BGG)
- 17:00 - PAX (BGG)
- 19:30 - Ilse of Cats (BGG)
- 21:50 - Imperial Settlers (BGG)
- 23:45 - Sylvion (BGG) & Aerion (BGG)
- 26:00 - Suburbia (BGG)
- 29:50 - Lux Aeterna (BGG)
June 11, 2022
This week Julius introduces us to a game called Yukon Airways by Al Leduc. In this game, you play a pilot flying around the Yukon Territories and carrying passengers to various locations in a large and sparse region of Canada. I believe the game is set in the mid-1900s but I'm not entirely sure about that. Spin it!
June 4, 2022
This week we talk about a game I've had for years but only finally gotten around to playing it. It's a game of gladiatorial arena combat for one or two players. You compete in various arenas around the world in famous sites like El Dorado, Xanadu and Atlantis! The game brings a large mix of gladiators to play with and is highly tactical. It's a lot of fun but it's not a perfect game. Check out what I think...
