1 Player Podcast

This episode comes out 12 years to the day after the 1st podcast!  Huzzah!  Just to liven things up a bit, Julius and I decided to do something a bit different (just a bit) and make this popular mechanics episode about Kickstarter and Kickstarter games.  Julius had some interesting points about Kickstarter as a tool and platform and I especially enjoyed looking through all the various items I've backed before and seeing how far things have come.

• Kickstarter

This week Julius and I get Space Hulk: Death Angel back to the table.  This is the classic game of dying a brutal death and just watching your team of Space Marines get decimated by a bunch of alien scum.  This is a cooperative game published by Fantasy Flight games and is based on Games Workshop's Warhammer 40K universe.  It's  a well loved solo game that is now long out of print but come see it fairs after a very long hiatus on the 1 Player Podcast.

This week Julius and I talk about Legacy of Yu, from Shem Phillips and Garphill Games.  This is part of their Ancients Anthology collection by the same designer.  Unlike those games, this game is made for solitaire play only. It's a resource management game with a legacy aspect to it.  You will play until you have either won seven games or lost seven games.

This week we revisit a mechanic Julius quite likes in the form of a game called Black Angel.  Honestly though, we don't talk about that mechanic much at all.  The mechanic in question is a scrolling board that we encountered in Solenia about a year ago or so.  Black Angel uses that same mechanic and a whole lot more in a bigger more complex package with much more vibracity!

• Black Angel (BGG)
• Real Black Angel by MC 900 Ft Jesus with DJ Zero (YouTube)

This week we look at a classic fantasy gamebook from the 90s, or more accurately, we look at a few books in the Fabled Lands series.  These are some rather unique gamebooks in that they are open ended and you are able to explore freely, travelling on a map in each book.  You can even travel between the books and progress through them as your character levels up.  There are seven books in the series, plus one traditional style gamebook and even a novella.  Best of all, they are still available and actually pretty inexpensively that's to Print on Demand publishing.

• Fabled Lands series (Amazon, RPG Geek, publisher, gamebooks.org)

This week we are back to Popular Mechanics.  Well, sort of. I'm back but Julius is on vacation so I have a special guest. It's the return of Deborah from Geek Gamers!  She chose the episode's mechanic and it led to some interesting discussions and a small bit of confusion.  There's a bit of audio issues.. sorry about that.  Fortunately, it doesn't linger around very long at all.

• 07:30 - League of Dungeoneers (BGG)
• 12:00 - Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of Ashardalon (BGG)
• 18:30 - Mistfall (BGG)
• 25:48 - Arkham Horror: LCG (BGG)
• 35:30 - Dawn of the Zeds (BGG)
• 42:49 - Dark Gothic: A Touch of Evil game (BGG)
• 50:00 - Ambush! (BGG)
• 54:00 - Dungeon Degenerates (BGG)

A few other mentioned games

• Mini-Rogue (BGG)
• Fortune and Glory (BGG)
• Hexplore It (BGG)
• A Touch of Evil (BGG)
• Open Fire (BGG)
• Firepower (BGG)

Let's take a look at Merchants of the Dark Road.  This is a 1-4 player competitive game that includes an automa for solo play.  It's a beautiful looking game with lots of shiny components (if you get the deluxe version) but got mixed feedback from our Julius.

• Merchants of the Dark Road (BGG, Elf Creek Games)
• Deluxe edition (Elf Creek Games)

This week we talk about the vertical scrolling, space shoot-em up game, The Battle at Kemble's Cascade.  Don't worry though.  This isn't a video game but a board game with a theme of a space shooter video game.  It's a pretty unique concept that does a great job of simulating a video game.  It's a lot of fun but it does have a few small issues.

• The Battle at Kemble's Cascade (BGG)

This week Julius talks about the Wyrd Miniatures game, Vagrantsong.  The publisher is known for making miniatures games but this one uses plastic standies instead.  This is a tactical combat game with a campaign.  Think Gloomhaven or Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion but without quite the oomph of those games.

This week Julius tells me all about the game Resist!.  This is a game about the Spanish maquis during the Spanish Revolution.  You take control of a number of maquis and complete missions by fighting the defenders at the location.  This is a deck-building game, though come to think of it, I didn't get the impression there is a lot of deck building involved but maybe I just missed that.  Anyway, it's a cool looking game with really nice art that also sounds very fun.

This week Julius and I finally return to our Popular Mechanic series.  In this brief episode, we talk about games that are "one and done".   Basically you play the game once and then can move on from that game, never to return... EVER.  Maybe.

This week we have a very special episode.  I have a nice long chat with Deborah, the host of the  Geek Gamers YouTube channel.  We talk about all sorts of things including her channel, playing RPGs solo and her new book, Solo Game Master's Guide.  The title says it all.  This book is a handy guide for anybody that plays or wants to play RPGs solo.

• Geek Gamers (YouTube)
• Solo Game Master's Guide (Modiphius, Amazon.com)
• Wanderings: A Gothic Roll and Read Table (Amazon.com)
• Princess Ryan's Star Marines (BGG)

This is the final episode in our Oniverse series. Fittingly, it ends with us visiting more of the Oniverse in the way of voyages to other galaxies... well, sorta.  In this game, you don't travel anywhere but you enable ships to launch into outer space to visit 4 different galaxies.  This is a game about deck management and getting the right cards to show up at the right time in your various interplanetary decks.

• Stellarion (BGG, InPatience)

As Julius and I make our way through the Oniverse, we've caught a breeze and ended up in the lands of Aerion where we are charged with making flying machines.  This is a Yahtzee like game in which you roll dice and try to manage good combinations.  You use those results to gather resources which are used to create amazing flying machines.  The game includes quite a few interesting expansions.

• Aerion (BGG, InPatience)

Our journey in the Dreamlands continue.  This time we drop below the waves for an undersea adventure with a guest aboard.  This, I think, may be the most thematic of all the Oniverse games so far.  This time we'll recruit some of the denizens of the oceans to help defeat the bad baddy - the Darkhouse!  He's the opposite of a lighthouse :D