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Episode 16: Played once... that'll do
36 Plays17 days ago
Shane continues his Phister-thon (don't say that out loud) by trying Great Western Trail New Zealand. Where will it sit amongst the other GWT games?? Steve got the hotness of Endeavor Deep Sea to the table. Does it live up to the hype?
The news is very exciting as the Garhil sercet project gets discussed, as well us the upcoming sequel to A Feast for Odin, The Danes.
The topic is all about games you played once, and that was enough - not necessarily for bad reasons, but sometimes so.
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Transcript
Brisbane's Cold Snap vs. Air Conditioning
00:00:14
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Mateless Play on what looks to be a crisp Sunday morning in Brisbane, thanks to the video of Shane in a hoodie and a hat and still kind of crossing his arms in cold. How are you doing, mate?
00:00:26
Speaker
I am freezing. it is It is one of the coldest mornings I think I've experienced in Brisbane since I've lived here. And yes, the hoodie's on and tracksuit pants are on and Ugg boots.
00:00:38
Speaker
Like I am totally decked out in warmth this morning so we can have our catch up and have a chat.
Snow in Queensland? Unlikely Events
00:00:44
Speaker
ay But no, I hear you've just turned on your air conditioner. which is just ridiculous. Absolutely. Yeah. It's ah it's a cool crisp 23.5 degrees in my room.
00:00:53
Speaker
and Like it is every time I do this podcast, uh, the, the joys of living in the extreme North of the country. That's, uh, um, I, I, I don't even know if I'll wear my jumper this year.
00:01:04
Speaker
I haven't had to yet. I did take a jumper to Cairns when I went to Cairns last month, yes but it wasn't, wasn't jumper weather down there either. So yeah. Uh, Well, it's only been the last few years I've actually bought a jumper.
00:01:18
Speaker
And that was only because I was going down to a trip to Adelaide because previously I didn't own one. So it is we even had snow in Queensland yesterday. Wow, Stanthorpe, I'm guessing? Yeah, down in Stanthorpe. Yeah, yeah.
00:01:32
Speaker
Jeez. Don't hurt Not up here. No, no. There's something going wrong with the universe if you start getting snow up there. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Yeah. There's bigger problems afoot.
Exploring Great Western Trail: New Zealand
00:01:44
Speaker
So, but besides the weather, we're here here to talk about board games. So let's just get right into it. Shane, have you been played anything new or noteworthy in the last period of time? I have. I have. I um had my regular Thursday night game night with Pastor Nick and Andy.
00:02:01
Speaker
And we were continuing on our great Western Trail train. I saw the photos. Yeah. And out came the – no train this time.
00:02:13
Speaker
Out came New Zealand. So we had our boats and we had our sheep, sheeps, as the great man says. um But, yeah, no, it was actually a good game.
00:02:25
Speaker
It's my favourite one of the lot, without a doubt. um Mine too. I was wondering what you thought of it, but, yeah, i agree. it They were saying it's a lot more harder. um I said, no, it's not.
00:02:38
Speaker
Not at all. Yeah, agree too. It's more engaging. Everything flows really well. um As I do whenever learn a game, I just kind of stick to one thing that I want to try and achieve for the game and then watch what everyone else is doing.
00:02:53
Speaker
then the next time I play it, I'll try and, you know, focus on another, another thing. So I just focused on going up. What was the bird track? I called it going up the bird track. Um, and, and then, you know, making sure that everything I picked up was triggering the bird track or I was getting bonuses from how far up I was on the bird track.
00:03:14
Speaker
I scored, you know, terribly compared to the other two, um, and came dead last, but, uh, I could still see what, you know, what they were doing and, you know, they were triggering everything off their board and, you know, it was good. It was really good and, there you know, a little bit of combo-tastic moves in it as well. Like, a couple of moves that I did that triggered this and that triggered that and I was not really happy with that.
00:03:39
Speaker
um So, you know, personally, I think it's, without doubt my favourite.
Why is NZ's Great Western Trail Better?
00:03:43
Speaker
And I said to Pastor Nick, why didn't you show me this game first? but Yeah, right, yeah. And you it's good. So why why do you think it's um easier? Because I have some theories on that.
00:03:54
Speaker
But, yeah, why do you think it's easier than the standard Great Western Trail? I think it just flowed better. And as you were going along, you know, as you were moving around the rondelle, you know, the the the path, the path was more directive and definitive.
00:04:12
Speaker
and less confuing confusing. um And then also too, you know for you to trigger moving your boats, even your boats were um still, you you can go down one path and then eventually you're gonna hit the dead end there of that path or you can choose another path. theres I think there's three paths that you could have chosen.
00:04:29
Speaker
You'll hit a dead end every time. um But you know you couldn't just pull up to a port a port as well. You need to have an extra movement to go into the port. um So that was you know that was flowing.
00:04:40
Speaker
I think just everything clicked and flowed really well in the game. the The actual buildings as well were a little bit more intuitive, a little bit easier to work out, but also too insane that, you know, this is the third version of Great Western Trail played. So the iconography really was a lot easier for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know.
00:05:00
Speaker
So I don't know whether or not it's because it is the third version of it played and everything just did click with me. But for me, it just seemed easier and the board looked nicer as well.
Game Strategies in Great Western Trail
00:05:11
Speaker
um It wasn't so beige.
00:05:15
Speaker
It was somewhat beige, but not beige. It was almost Maracaibo-ish, I thought. Yeah, yeah, that's a fair call. Yeah. I thought, for me, what made it easier was the fact that in Great Western Trail, you you just have too many things to manage. Like, if you want to deliver cattle to different places, you need to have the trains already built up.
00:05:38
Speaker
Yeah. then have the And then also have the amount of cattle to... you know, warranted an order to like the 15th spot or whatever. um or Or you need to have the money in order to pay for the difference that you don't have and all those sort of things. And its it's like, I need this, but I also need this. And then I also need this, which is fun in its own right. But I like that it doesn't have that. I like that.
00:05:59
Speaker
There is no train line, like moving your moving your locomotive along. Yep. And what it's been replaced with is far more, um I guess, user-friendly. Like you don't have this massive overhead to try and organize how to go out and and do your ships. It's just... Yeah, just go out and do it. You've got to have the movement. And then if you don't have the movement, you just you just move one and then you worry about it next time. and Yeah. Yeah. So, and you know not you're not starting back at zero every time like you are a Great Western Trail.
00:06:25
Speaker
Right. Because suppose you're not starting at zero, but... yeah hey um i thought it was easier for that reason i like the money engine in the game too so the guy's flush with cash the whole game uh there wasn't a moment where i was you know struggling for any money and um because i focused on the shearers as well so you know i'm i' selling heaps of wool you know when i could and um which then kept me you know in the cash um And then yeah I like the gold mechanic as well.
00:06:57
Speaker
So, you know, you can sell gold to buy some more cards that, you know, get you you, know, help get your bonuses in your hand.
Favorite Board Games: NZ Edition
00:07:05
Speaker
So, which again, I, you know, through having that bird engine,
00:07:10
Speaker
happening i and then collected the bird cards which then gave me two bucks every time i just trashed it out of my hand or got you played it out of my hand so there was one point there i had four of them so there's eight bucks straight to me which then kind of set me up for the next next purchase of a sheep so um i found it i found it very hard to trash cards in this game yeah Normally I do trash cards. Normally i ah in the past I've pretty much got rid of all the cards, gave me nothing in my hand.
00:07:43
Speaker
But I didn't trash one card throughout the whole game. so I said that halfway through to past Nick, I said I haven't trashed card yet. ah
00:07:55
Speaker
Yeah, it's been a while since I played it, don't recall. whether there's a trash engine or not. So, but yeah, that's, it's cool. I'm glad you liked it. Cause I was, when you got back on your great Western trail thing, I was like, Oh, New Zealand's my favorite. It's the, it's, it's the one for me.
00:08:10
Speaker
And then I was, when you, when I saw your photo, I'm like, Oh, I wonder how this is going to go. I wonder if he's like, what are you talking about, Steve? But I'm glad you liked it. I did. I did like it. And I will not play any other great Western trail version. I'm just going to stick to that.
00:08:23
Speaker
That is my favorite. I won't own it. Um, because there's enough people in my group that have it. So, yeah If I ever want to borrow it, I know where I can get it from.
First Impressions: Endeavor Deep Sea
00:08:33
Speaker
But um yeah, that's what I've been playing, mate.
00:08:36
Speaker
Cool. Well, um I've been playing Kennespiel award-winning game, ah which is Endeavor Deep Sea. oh good. So I got it about a month or two ago, and and just it's one of those games, and maybe this is a topic for conversation one day, but I have i have this, not a fear, that's not the right word, but a diversion maybe to learning new games at the moment like it it i really ah really need to want to learn a game in know order really want to yeah to learn a game because i i have set this up and gone through the rules that many times on my table but not actually started a game like not actually gone through the process of playing the game probably four times
00:09:20
Speaker
And yesterday ah i was just like, no, today's the day I'm going to play this damn game. And so i set it all up. And then I said to Raf, do you want me to teach you this game? And he's not interested at all. And then ah thought I thought I'd try my luck with Helen, who's usually not up for these things. And she's like, oh, yeah, okay, I'll learn a new game.
00:09:37
Speaker
And I'm so glad we did because it is outstanding. Yeah. And and you just and then this always happens. Every every time we actually learn a new game and play it, I'm like, why did why did I not – why have I got this out, unboxed it, set it up and done all that this many times without actually playing the game? So that's – like i said, that's a conversation for another day. But the game itself, it's an exploration game ah where you are – yeah Making who whoever makes the most positive impact on the, uh, on the ocean essentially is the winner. So you, you, you're conserving, you're, um, exploring your, um, what else are doing? You're doing things that are good. You know, you're not going and fishing and that sort of stuff, you know, you know taking from the wildlife. You're just, you but you're you're just discovering and discovering and improve the wildlife. Yeah.
00:10:25
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. um I mean, that's the theme isn't super strong, but it is there and it works well with what you're doing. So when you start off, you've got like, well, there's 10 different missions in the boss. So we always start with mission one. They don't have to do it in order or anything. It's just a way to mix up gameplay.
00:10:43
Speaker
But we started with three tiles that are um were surface tiles and one tile that was like zero to 200 meters in depth. and then as you explore you can go right down to 4 000 meters plus in depth um so that's five five rows um and then there's five columns so you can have a maximum of 25 spaces you discover and on each of the tiles are different
Mechanics of Endeavor Deep Sea Explained
00:11:06
Speaker
actions you can take you can you can journal what you found. And if you journal what you found, you get this other benefit that gives you the ability to upgrade one of your staff or to um yeah you get more resources or whatever else. and
00:11:18
Speaker
Or you can go through conservation, which allows you to um look after you turtles in this area, for example, and then that'll give you some bonus. And when you've done a lot of kind lot of conserving, um you get bonuses.
00:11:31
Speaker
similar to like games like Viscounts the West Kingdom, where if you've achieved one obstacle you've achieved one um conservation action here and another conservation action there, you get the benefit that links those two. Yep. So a bit of that.
00:11:46
Speaker
And then you've got like, well, else you've got other actions that I'm struggling with. Oh, Sonar, which is where you actually find new tiles and go discovering deeper and deeper. But that but that that and all the actions are triggered by this play map that you've got where you've got four tracks and every track has kind of like a barrier for you to overcome. So the first one means that at the start of every round, you hire new staff and there's five levels of staff. But the first track, it determines what level of staff you can...
00:12:18
Speaker
higher. So at start you can only hire level one people but if you don't move that track up then you can only hire level one to people the next round and then the next round so you want to move that up but then the next track ah like gives you ah the discs that you have to use for actions.
00:12:31
Speaker
um So you only get one disc and the at the start of the round but if you move that up you'll get two discs or three discs or four discs so you kind of want to move that track up. And then when you place these discs on your workers to take actions, they don't come back at the end of the round.
00:12:44
Speaker
That's what the third row is for. and The third row allows you to take a certain number of discs back off your workers. So you could have this you could have this term where you use both your workers in the first round, but if you don't move that up, you can only bring one of them back. So that other worker is locked out until...
00:12:58
Speaker
So you can bring it back. Move that up. So ah yeah, you want to move that up. And then the last track is movement, where you can only move one tile and it's also the depth. So at start, you can only move along the surface, but as you build that track up, you can then dig deeper and you can also, it also increases the amount of movement you can do. So you,
00:13:15
Speaker
you kind of want to do everything. It really kind of forces you to not, you can't pigeonhole yourself because otherwise you're not going to achieve anything. Yeah.
Balancing Acts in Endeavor Deep Sea
00:13:22
Speaker
So it really, for what well, I say that playing at once. I don't know what an optimal strategy is for sure, but I did like the fact that you really did have to pay attention to every single row.
00:13:33
Speaker
um And there's also a fifth track, which is a bit different. It's your research and it's kind of like the economy of the game. There are things like conservation costs money, research, I'm sorry, yeah journaling costs money.
00:13:44
Speaker
So you need to be, you need to keep that up. And the only way to get that is to go diving, which is another action you can take on the card. So it's on the, on your um action board. So it it does a really good job of making everything seem important.
00:13:59
Speaker
Uh, which is cool. and And every action feels good. There's no action where you're like, oh, I guess I'll go and do this then. It's kind of like, oh, this is cool. I'll go here. I'll get the bump on these two tracks. And then, um, even with the journaling, that's, that's like thematic in the sense that if I, if I'm journaling about what I've found on my tile. Yep.
00:14:17
Speaker
um I'll get a big benefit, but you'll also get a benefit because you've also you've been able to read my journal yeah and get information. So ah yeah, it's it's it's really cool. So um just just really keen to play it again. Really short for the game it was.
00:14:32
Speaker
I expected to be a lot or a lot longer, but at two players, we did our first playthrough, yeah checking the rules on a couple of things. um and well The icons are really um clear to understand though, but we were done in an hour.
00:14:46
Speaker
Um, so I would assume that it'd be less than that the second time. And it does say on the box 30 minutes per player. So theoretically you'd have to say, well, it's right on the money, but I don't know whether adding a third player would add 30 minutes. I think maybe it'd add maybe 10 minutes. Yeah. Okay. Uh, because in the end you are restricted to that five by five grid of, of exploration. Um, and it's also got this other track where you, whether you gain impact, you put these little, um, stars out.
00:15:16
Speaker
And it's like a cumulative thing where you that's each scenario has its own like little map that you're, I guess, exploring um that give you benefits as well. So that'll change. but So they're they're the only two determining factors of time as far as I can see. So I can't see how having a third player would...
00:15:34
Speaker
increase it that much so i guess there is a little bit of ap because you are like there was an instance last night yesterday when um helen was setting herself up to go do some conservation in on one tile but i was too so i had my turn and i went exactly where she wanted to go so You have to change straight away. It's a tactical game rather than a strategy game in that sense where, so she had to stop and think, okay, what do I actually want to do now? How do I pivot from this?
00:16:05
Speaker
Um, but yeah, there's like these cool things that she re I was out of, I was out of, uh, discs on my last turn and, um, on the last round and I was about to pass. And once you pass her out, but before I had a chance to pass Helen had her turn and she journaled, which gave me another disc. Yeah. Great.
00:16:23
Speaker
Which I then used to move, which I moved my my submarines around and that gave me more discs. And I was just like, I had like two or three more turns. like, this is awesome. And i won the game by six, which is probably because she gave me that extra disc. I haven't pointed that out to her yet. No, but but did you have a bit of table talk to say, oh, Helen, yeah you know, you know, you could journal this round.
00:16:44
Speaker
Did you do any of that? No. Well, but what what actually happened is I said, I think I'm out. Oh. And then she did that and I got the disc and she's like, I thought you were out. I'm like well, I hadn't passed yet. I'm just like, i thought I think I'm out because I had no discs. But then you gave me a disc, so I'm back in.
00:16:59
Speaker
ah No, it was really good. And Helen really liked it too. So, yeah, it's definitely going to get to the table more. I can see why it's so popular because... I thought there was going to be a much higher barrier for entry, but the teach doesn't take that long.
00:17:15
Speaker
The icons are really good. Once you understand them, there were a couple of ones that caught us out. Like there was ah um actions that had yellow circles around them and I'd forgotten what that did, but then I went back to the rule book and figured that out real quick. So
Kickstarter Joy: Fighting Fantasy Adventures
00:17:28
Speaker
yeah, pretty good game. um Well, better than pretty good. I'd say one of the better games I played this year. so That's good. Yeah.
00:17:35
Speaker
yeah I did play the first Endeavor, probably one of the first games I played in the hobby um when it first came out and i did own it. And I'd be keen, is that are the components really nice in the game? Because the original Endeavor, the components were and the actual box itself was was next level. like They were brilliant.
00:17:57
Speaker
So what's a like in Endeavor Deep Sea? Is it a good component? Yeah, it's amazing. yeah Well, I mean, I've got the Deluxe Edition. um i don't i don't know what the difference between... Oh, actually, I kind of do know what the difference is, but it's not it's not that major. Like, um instead of just yellow cubes on my player board, I have, like, individual cubes for the different research, different different tracks.
00:18:19
Speaker
um And then, like, you know our how I think our submarines are nicer and that sort of stuff, but... the most of the the quality of the game itself is there there. So that would be there in a standard edition as well. So, um yeah. And I didn't even know whether the standard edition came out. I got mine on retail. I didn't get it through a Kickstarter.
00:18:39
Speaker
So I don't even know if the standard edition is available or was available, but the deluxe edition was the one I bought. So and it would seemed to be the only option at the time. So, yeah.
00:18:50
Speaker
Yeah, good. Very good. yeah Definitely a winner. That is excellent. Let's do it. I'm glad to hear. Any other games that you've been getting to the table lately?
00:19:01
Speaker
No, mate. no no No other games. And I doubt I'm playing any games today. I've got a a bit a busy week ahead of me. I did have a Kickstarter arrive today, ah yesterday. Oh, cool. um Which I've been waiting for. And I'm quite surprised on how good it looks. in light So it's Fighting Fantasy Adventures, Martin Wallace's new...
00:19:24
Speaker
um game based off of the Fighting fansy Fantasy series by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingston. But I look at, you know, I know we're on a podcast and I'm showing you the box, but that's the box for a card game.
00:19:37
Speaker
Wow. And it's really weighty. The artwork looks amazing. um Like the whole the whole thing just looks fantastic.
00:19:48
Speaker
so Because when ah when I got it dropped off to me, I was shocked. Absolutely shocked on on the quality. I haven't opened it up yet to look at the cards, but the dice that I got with it, so i got the collector's edition.
00:20:02
Speaker
The dice are amazing. and There's a nice metal coin in there. Obviously, that'll be something to do with first player. I've got ah got some kind of pad to go with it and a journal, which is all about fighting fantasy adventures, so it helps you learn a bit about the history of it.
00:20:17
Speaker
So going to read that today. and I'm super stoked. Because,
Family Fun with Homemade Liar's Dice
00:20:24
Speaker
you know, it was it wasn't wasn't cheap. And I was thinking I'm paying this much for a card game.
00:20:30
Speaker
But then now that I look at it, yeah, it's worth it. Like that that's going to look really nice on my shelf, to be honest with you, just on the look of it alone. So yeah I'm going to spend today just, you know, hopeful you get to play have a bit of a look through that.
00:20:43
Speaker
Well, I'm jumping on a plane and it's a solo game. So you never know, might be able to pack a mission with me and bring a mission versus taking the whole box because it's pretty weighty. But maybe I could take a mission with me. um or a story, they call them, I think.
00:20:57
Speaker
So take a story with me and and pack that and play that while I'm away. So, no, what about you? ah The only other game I've really played, which is a bit of a strange one, is um I've i made my own version of Liar's Dice and i yeah played it with Helen and Raf the other day.
00:21:14
Speaker
And obviously Helen liked it because she went and bought better plastic cups. um So that's good. But I am terrible at that game. Like I am really bad at Liars Dice. So I'm assuming you know how Liars Dice works. I have no idea how Liars Dice works. Oh, okay, right. It's like an old school dice game where everyone has five dice in there in their cup and then you roll them and you have face down so and and then you lift up your cup so only you can see what dice you have. So like let's say five of four of us are playing and we've all got five dice. There's 20 dice out there.
00:21:44
Speaker
And on your turn, you make a bid. You say, oh, I reckon and there's seven twos. So you're saying between the 20 total dice, there's seven twos. And then someone can outbid you by either bidding a higher value die number and seven of that, so seven fours or seven fives, or they can go eight whatever. So they could go eight twos, eight threes, eight fours, so on and so forth.
00:22:07
Speaker
um Ones are wild, so they count as anything. and um basically you keep bidding until someone calls your bluff and then you reveal all the dice and if the person who called the bluff was incorrect there was enough dice there they lose one of their dice and if they were correct the person who made the last bid loses one of their dice and it's just an elimination game essentially you just go until people run out of dice okay um but yeah it's really simple it's it's actually the game they played on pirates the caribbean um
00:22:38
Speaker
uh one on one of them where you so um people may remember it from that or they might remember remember it as peruto which is another name it goes under but it's just a simple dice game and i just i don't know why i was i think i think i played a game on bga with my brother and his family and i thought i'm just going to make this at home so i just went and found Like mainly space-based dice, just made dice out of whatever I could find.
00:23:01
Speaker
And um yeah, we just, we played it like four or five times back to back. And each time I'm like, i I am losing hard. I won the first game and then I lost every game like terribly. So um not not my cup of tea. It was one of those things. Well, actually that's not true. It is my cup of tea, not something I'm good at.
00:23:19
Speaker
But, yeah, a little bit like Skull in that same sense that you're trying to read what other people are doing. and yeah um Yeah, you you set a trap for someone. Like you say, I've got five sixes. So then they assume you've got heaps of sixes. So then there'll be seven sixes and then you don't have any sixes. You were just bluffing. Just bluffing. That sort of thing.
00:23:36
Speaker
Yeah. um So, yeah. Yeah, really simple game. You don't need to buy it. You can buy it. I don't know what you get in the box. As long as got some D6s around your house. Yeah.
00:23:47
Speaker
I don't know what you get in the box that you need. You just need four four sets of dice, wouldn't you? Technically, you could play with five people, couldn't you? as all you could As long as you've got five dice per person, I can't see a limit,
Board Game News & Kickstarter Updates
00:23:58
Speaker
really. Yeah, okay.
00:24:01
Speaker
It'd be cool to have like ah come up with a dice tower that's got like a little lid to it. so yeah Everyone's got their own individual dice tower, and they put them in a dice tower, and they pop the lid instead of having cups.
00:24:14
Speaker
That's true. ah the ratling The rattling of the cuts was kind of yeah know was kind of cool too. You're right, dice tower. Maybe the Luthier. We all have a Luthier dice tower that plays the music. Yeah, it plays the music. that It plays like like pirate sea shanties instead of...
00:24:27
Speaker
yes who no Well, I do have a 3D printer, so I might have to come up with a design and see what we can print. ah but i does it So if you've got, let's say if you do say five sixes, right, the only way someone can bid above you is say ah six sixes.
00:24:47
Speaker
They can't go on oh, I think you've got six ones. Oh, you could go six twos. So long as the whatever you're bidding is higher, you can go any number. audio But if you're bidding the same number, you have to go value. Higher value, yep.
00:25:00
Speaker
Yeah. If you bid five sixes, the only bid, the next bid has to be at least six twos or higher. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Got you. Okay. Very good. but That'd be a good little family game, I think.
00:25:13
Speaker
Yeah, that's it. We did it like after dinner for half an hour. Yeah. Any Kickstarters are right for you? That's basically it. I have, I've got, I've got a few arriving.
00:25:25
Speaker
I thought I was going to get yesterday that I'm getting, I'm getting on, I'm shooting Monday. um But I haven't, I haven't got a lot coming in at the moment. I know that it's, um <unk> I've had a few things pop in in the last few weeks, but mostly like expansions, like the Garfield games expansions, the dead reckoning expansion came in.
00:25:45
Speaker
Um, I don't, I've got Luthier coming, which should hopefully turn up next week. ah Everyone else has got their copy, but that's par for the course when you live up here, I will get it last.
00:25:55
Speaker
Yeah. So, and then I also have, oh, I thought of something the other day that I'm like, oh, gee, and but when am I getting my copy of that? Oh, the RAR expansion.
00:26:06
Speaker
um So I'm assuming I'm getting both of those this week because theyve they're out in the post in Australia. So fingers crossed. yeah but that would The Fighting Fantasy was my last of my older Kickstarters.
00:26:19
Speaker
um ah The only other Kickstarter slash game fan that I've got coming is that Rome Fate of the Empire, which is, think, due any month now. um Yeah.
00:26:30
Speaker
So that was quite a quick one. And that's it. I haven't backed anything else really that I thought was going to be worthy. Yeah. Interesting, though, you mentioned Garfield Games because normally we do mention them every episode and we haven't, I think, for a couple of episodes now.
00:26:47
Speaker
That's true. Have you seen their secret project? I have, yes. Well, how about we skittle over to the news because that's not the ah piece of news that I have.
Anticipating New Releases from Garfield Games
00:26:58
Speaker
Okay.
00:26:59
Speaker
Yeah, we'll talk about that. Sounds good. let's Let's do that. Let's go to the news. Let's go to the news.
00:27:12
Speaker
that's the news uh so shane i saw this as well do you i'm assuming you're far more active in the garfield games community than i am i reckon you've got some kind of inkling of what this is i mean we can all we can all guess that it's going to be i'm guessing it's a something of the something something announcement no um no yeah yeah that's not my thought yeah i reckon I reckon yours is more than a thought, though. So tell me more about the secret point. Oh, no, no, no. This is absolutely a thought. I've got no intel or anything like that. um
00:27:45
Speaker
And, however, it's just there's one series they haven't completed the third game yet.
00:27:55
Speaker
Can you think about it?
00:27:59
Speaker
um Are you referring to, like, a... ah re um expansion to shipwrights no and that's a series of games so you know how they're explorers they've done something to something they've all those that they've got a series of three there's one more set they've only done two games of oh yeah
00:28:22
Speaker
okay one more set oh like you said you're talking about circadians circadian circadian yeah there that there has to be a third circadian I don't know. See, because I'm like the Anthology series has like eight games in them and they're not grouped. So I don't know if they have to do a trilogy. There's a trilogy. There's always been on the cards a trilogy for circadians. It's always been on the cards.
00:28:46
Speaker
um There was a little clue in, so if anyone follows on Discord, if you don't follow on Discord Garfield Games, just jump on to Discord and start following them.
00:28:58
Speaker
They are dropping clues for for this secret project. And um but there is one of the circadian's pictures in the background.
00:29:11
Speaker
Ah, okay. like Okay. Well, it makes sense because it's not a secret that they are doing the something of the something, something. that's right. There is the something, the something, something. yeah Yeah. But this is this is, I feel, this is ah this is a dump for the something, the something that is coming.
00:29:28
Speaker
I reckon it's definitely a third in the circadian series. yeah Because, you know, we've got circadians and then we've got chaos order. So, and the third.
00:29:43
Speaker
Well, what i have I have some news and watch I've done something. I'm very excited about my news and I hope that my excitement is met with the same level of awesome game at the other end.
00:29:56
Speaker
um But I've done something that I've never done and that is I have followed a game on BGG. I've never done that before. But im I've subscribed to this game, so whenever anyone makes a comment about this game, it pops up in my chat.
00:30:09
Speaker
So you would think if that's the only time I've ever done that, it must be something good. And it is the announced sequel to A Feast for Odin. Oh, there you go. So the Danes is what it's called, and it is based, it is not a spiritual sequel. It's not ah somewhat of a sequel. It's touted as the sequel to a Feast for Odin, which is interesting.
00:30:32
Speaker
So from what I can tell, ah the game is... Basically just a upgrade of of A Feast for Odin. So like there there will be some changes, but it's obviously pretty close because a lot of the questions so far have been about whether it's going to be backwards compatible.
00:30:50
Speaker
And... The answer is, oh, some things will be and some things won't be. So it's it's not it's not a different it's a different game, but it's not sort a different system. that's That's how I'm imagining it at this point.
00:31:03
Speaker
um We don't know much. The box cover looks eight excellent. they've They've got some good artwork there. It's just a ship on the on the water. um And it's... um Apparently the only other thing we know at this point, apparently the box is like more than double the size of the Feast for Odin box. Oh gosh.
00:31:22
Speaker
Feast for Odin and Norwegians combined. So it's like almost a Gloomhaven size box, which is concerning some people. um but is concerning me mainly because of cost. um But, and this is what I argued in the, in the, um in the chat, in the BGG community, um because someone was saying that, you know, it's, it's going to be a bear to set up, you know, and you know,
00:31:47
Speaker
And I'm like, well, look, feast for Odin is my favorite game, but I think we can all agree it's a bear to set up. Like it's not an easy game to table. So don't think, you know, and then I think of games like foundations of Rome or the new castles Burgundy, which are big elaborate productions that are really easy to set up and get to the table and go. So um I'm hoping that's the route they're going down, like a little bit easier to just get started and go rather than.
00:32:13
Speaker
Yeah, yes so you know you never know, given the size of the box, potentially they're all trays that you just instantly pull out and set it up that way. Potentially, yeah. So, I mean, there are trays in the original Feast for Odin, but um that's just for the resources. Everything else is in baggies and whatnot.
00:32:29
Speaker
Um, and if you've got the expansion, you're like being, you're like everything in the one box. You've also come up with a different way to store all of the components because you can't put it in one box if you have the, the trays that it came in. So yeah, I'm very, very keen to see, cause like I like Uwe games. I'm actually completely, coincidentally wearing an Uwe Rosenberg shirt. Yeah.
00:32:51
Speaker
um So, yeah, I'm always keen to see new Uber games, but specifically Feast for Odin my favorite game. So, um yeah, I'm interested to see what the s sequel does.
00:33:02
Speaker
Cannot wait. Unfortunately, I have to because um the Kickstarter will go live or the crowdfunding campaign, I know who it's through, will go live in Q1 2026. for a potential delivery Q4 2026. So okay
Envy and Future Plans for GenCon
00:33:16
Speaker
I won't have the game in my hands until probably 2027. Yeah, yeah, end of 20 or start of 2027.
00:33:24
Speaker
So that's good. That is good. it's um And can I ask, is it an Awakened world Realms edition, mate? Well, I haven't announced that.
00:33:34
Speaker
It definitely hasn't been advertised as one, so I assume it's not. But I wonder whether they're going along that same blueprint of yeah make it beautiful, make it deluxe, and make it the piece of, you know, it's almost art that sits on your shelf as well as the game. And did they, have they said it's going to go to Kickstarter GameFound?
00:33:57
Speaker
or It just says crowdfunding. Crowdfunding, so okay. so that one one of One of the two, I assume. If it's game found, I'm going then, you know, potentially it could be Awakened Realms.
00:34:10
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So I'll just see if there's anything else new. So it's set in 8.25.
00:34:17
Speaker
So similar sort of timeframe. um I'm just seeing if there's anything new. Will this make Afeast for Odin redundant? A lot of people are asking that question. um And then most people are just saying, shut up and take my money. Yeah.
00:34:32
Speaker
ah Um, yeah. so they've just announced there the crowdfunding campaign Q1 2026. So no more info than that. Pretty light on information, but enough to get me sitting here for the next nearly two years waiting waiting with bated breath. So it better be good because I would be so disappointed if it, if I just get it and go, Oh yeah, it's not feast for Odin.
00:34:55
Speaker
So. Yeah, no, you'll be fine. I think it'll be, it'll be a blinged out version. And then, um, ah can I'll see your Feast for Odin copy getting sold in Marketplace or something.
00:35:09
Speaker
I never thought I'd say something like that, but then I did sell Dwellings of Eldervale. So there is there is definitely a history there. But yeah, I don't know. It's hard to sell my copy of Feast for Odin because I accidentally got rid of the original board.
00:35:26
Speaker
because I always play with the Norwegians, and i so I kept the board for the normal game in the Norwegians box, and then when I moved, I threw out the Norwegians box because I didn't keep any expansion boxes.
00:35:38
Speaker
So I don't actually have the original mat for A Feast for Reden, so it might be a bit hard to say that one. Well, it might be a donation, mate, to your to your board game library for your club up there.
00:35:50
Speaker
That will be a little bit heavier than everything else they're playing, but that's all right. I'll happily teach them. I've got a year and I've got two years. A couple of years to teach them. But that's, yeah, that's the big piece of news that I had. I was very excited about that. But anything else that's popped up on your radar? No, nothing else. I know Gen Con's happening at the moment, so lots of new games getting touted about and talked about out there, so...
00:36:14
Speaker
um yes my annual jealousy event has is is occurring it's so many people like it's it's it becomes more and more every year but so many people i know are there so my buddy facebook feed is filled with people at gen con it's like yeah i know you're not on facebook and i just wish i wasn't this week because every every other day it's say and not only that like tony who um was a friend of mine i met on the uh uh cruise last year who is a listener to our podcast um one of the one of the many ah he's he's released a he's released his own game and he's uh he's got it at gen con and he's the guy i think i told you he does all of the the big um like the marketing uh 3d things that they build at gen con okay yeah yeah yeah those things yeah
00:37:03
Speaker
yeah So he's he's he's just released a game and obviously all the Dice Tower crew are there and Bonacore's there. So it's just a very... feel very far away from everything. like I missed out on PlayCon. I missed out on GenCon.
00:37:18
Speaker
But that's okay. Well, look, you know organising travel is your thing. So why don't we make a little bit of a pact that would they this time next year we are there. Look, I'd love to say that, but...
00:37:30
Speaker
Christmas next year, we're going on a ski trip to Canada for, so I don't know if I could justify expense to go to the Northern North America again, a couple of months out. So, uh, I, I love the idea, but, uh, what I'm trying to, what I'm trying to argue is, um, to, at the end of our ski trip to Canada, I tack on a quick flight over to Miami and go on the Dice Tower cruise.
00:37:52
Speaker
That's what I'm, that's where I'm aiming. Yeah. But to we'll see. I think, um yeah, I'd love – obviously, I want to get there one year, but um when that is, who knows. But at some point, we'll go. Yeah, I'd i'd actually like to get to a Dice Tower, something Dice Tower in the next couple of years.
00:38:11
Speaker
Yeah. That's goal. Dice Tower West has got to be the easiest one. maybe we We nearly did it last year well that's in March, right? Yeah, yeah. So – Yeah. That's in March next year. So or I'm dead keen to do something like that versus a cruise.
00:38:25
Speaker
I'm just not a, I'm not a cruisy type of person. I get, I get the hint. I get the hint. I'll only hassle you about that seven more times. Yeah, that's all
Games Played Once: Why Not Again?
00:38:35
Speaker
right. That's okay.
00:38:36
Speaker
Oh, but no, no other news for me, mate. Um, and, uh, yeah, no, you know, I certainly do have a bit of envy when you see all these really cool board games getting released over there and you see the big stacks of games like 12 rivers. it looks really cool.
00:38:49
Speaker
Um, haven't seen much else about it out there, but it looks like fun. Um, And there's a whole heap of you know Japanese card games up there that are getting released that look really good.
00:39:01
Speaker
um But anyway, we'll wait and see. We'll just have to wait about 12 months before they come out here in Australia. Yeah, pretty much, yeah. All right. Well, um we'll finish up the news there and we'll get on to our very ad hoc topic that we have come up with.
00:39:17
Speaker
Yeah, it's very ad hoc. And to our listeners, we're going to be thinking of this as we go. 100%.
00:39:30
Speaker
So we were planning to discuss the Dicetower Awards because we did our predictions and they have happened, but they haven't been announced anywhere yet. I think they're waiting until Dicetower put up the video.
00:39:42
Speaker
um I do know, all I know is that Unconscious Mind won an award because the designer if i've posted that. um I don't know what it won, but but Unconscious Mind has won a Dicetower Award. like Okay, that'd be best art. There we go.
00:39:55
Speaker
That's a bonus point. That's bonus point if I get it. That's what I'm guessing. Yeah. We'll both get the bonus point. no well i'll be yeah ah best Best combo turns in round one. That should to be the award wins.
00:40:06
Speaker
um But yeah, ah so because we haven't got that information, we're going to skip to something else, which Shane brought up, and it's an interesting one because we've all got these games, or had these games, is probably a better way of putting it, which...
00:40:20
Speaker
Correct me if for wrong, Shane, but the idea is games that we have played once but will never play again. Yeah, yeah. And it's not that the game was crap that's the reason why we won't play it again.
00:40:31
Speaker
To be honest, there there will be some crap ones that we mention. um But that's our our own opinion that it's crap. But also, too, it could have been still ah good game, but it's just not for me. I won't play it again.
00:40:44
Speaker
Yeah. die um ah So that's that's the thought. Yeah. that I come up with this morning, just that ad hoc last minute. And
Anachrony and Vindication: Expectations vs. Reality
00:40:54
Speaker
I thought we'd just do, you know, five each.
00:40:56
Speaker
And um so if you like, mate, I can kick off the first first one. Go for it. Pergola.
00:41:06
Speaker
but ah I, look, I've actually played it twice. And, yeah, So your list is already broken. My list is broken, but I've played it twice.
00:41:18
Speaker
I played it once and then I thought I'd play it again. and you know only learned to play it once so I could learn it and then do the review for it. And then i played it again and I went, look, this is a good game for anyone that's new to board games, um that likes nice art. and I talked about it last episode with our crossover episode, so I won't go on too much about it, but You know, it's it's I won't play it again.
00:41:45
Speaker
just um And sorry, Ingrid and Shane, I'm giving it to you, but it'll be a two-player one without Shane T playing that one. So, yes, that's that's my number five is Pergola.
00:41:59
Speaker
Okay. Well, the one I went with when you first mentioned this, the first game I thought of was a game that yeah it it ah was a pretty good worker placement game. And if it had a different theme, I'd probably play it again.
00:42:10
Speaker
And it's not because I don't like the theme. It's because I expected more. So Anachrony, I got told, everyone talked about Anachrony, about how this is this amazing game with this time travel element these awesome mechs.
00:42:25
Speaker
And I guess I was just a little bit let down because the mechs are essentially just there for show. They don't do anything. like they' They're literally, you're just moving them on the board rather than moving in something else on the board.
00:42:36
Speaker
um And that's fine. now though I've got flashy games. I'm not going to, you know, tarnish it with with that just because of that but this time travel mechanism i just thought was a bit pox i was expecting something way cooler than this little arrow thing on a board so i played it i enjoyed it but for the for the size of it for the you know the box itself and that know they've got the obviously the huge ultimate edition box and all that I just don't think for me, the value was there for the game. So I kind of played it and i went, oh I'm glad I played it because I'm not going to spend any money on this now where I might've bought it, you know, if I hadn't, you know, to try it out. So yeah, Anacony for me is a game I'm sure people love it and it's just, but it wasn't my jam.
00:43:20
Speaker
seemed like a lot, a lot more hype than it was in outcome for me. So. Yeah. Yeah. but Tell me there's time travel.
00:43:31
Speaker
Make it more, like that sounds cool. Make it more interesting. that No, like I actually totally, I totally get that um because ah I've played an Akrony three times and yeah, I, I agree with you. it That time travel mechanism is just useless.
00:43:47
Speaker
and I don't get it. Yeah. And um everyone says, are you going back in time? No, you're kind of not. But anyway, you're going back on a a track. That's it.
00:43:59
Speaker
Have you ever played, just this just on this topic, have you ever played That Time You Killed Me? No. it's it does It does time travel way better. So it's like three chess boards. Well, it's not chess boards, but three boards, and the game's a bit like chess.
00:44:15
Speaker
where if you do something in the past, it will affect that same spot in the present and in the future. And then you have these paradoxes where... Have you told me about this game before?
00:44:27
Speaker
I swear i've heard about this game. yeah Yeah, I mean, I haven't played it in a long time, but it is, yeah, it's a cool little like three era chess game. And it's, yeah, if you're doing something in the future, but then someone does something in the past in the same spot, then that might affect you in the future.
00:44:43
Speaker
And if you end up accidentally having two of your workers in the same era, then you created a paradox and you lose the game. So it it felt like you were time traveling through that. But even as I'm saying it, I'm putting using my hands like doing levels. yeah um so It's almost like 3D chess.
00:45:03
Speaker
Well, only it's not a 2D board. It's just the three boards and you just sort of, yeah, it's it's very cool. it's ah it's And I think it does time travel way better than Anachrony for about ah probably a tenth of the price.
00:45:15
Speaker
um And if you're into chess, you'll love it. So, yeah, it's it's up there with Onitama as games people who play chess should play. Okay. I'm going to look that one up because that does sound really interesting.
00:45:28
Speaker
Because I like chess. Yeah. My number four um is Concordia Venus expansion. Right.
00:45:40
Speaker
So i played it once. And people tell me how good Concordia is right and that I should play that. Never, don't know. But I did not like this Concordia Venus where you're basically working with the person next to you as well.
00:45:57
Speaker
Okay. um And totally dry Euro game. um I played it, oh, God knows, four years ago now, maybe longer than that, and never been inspired to play that again and or and or Concordia.
00:46:14
Speaker
So, yeah, Concordia Venus. Yeah, that's an interesting one for me because I had such a terrible experience with Concordia, but then I played it at my brother's house and ah years later.
00:46:26
Speaker
and I really liked it. And so I can't put it in this category because I wouldn't mind playing it again kind of thing. It's a bit of a different one. Well, maybe it's just the the expansion that I played versus the actual version of Selfie because I think it is a different game.
00:46:43
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, umve ah I've only ever played just base Concordia, so. Another game that made my list, and it's another game that people love. i know it's some people's favorite game, and I believe you've got the fancy schmancy version of this one.
00:47:03
Speaker
And i look ah I say that I'll never play it again, but I probably i probably would like if it was there. and Because I am i am and interested to know whether we just had an anomaly game.
00:47:14
Speaker
ah But
Popular Games: Hype or Substance?
00:47:15
Speaker
I got taught with G-Money as well, um and he had the same opinion. We both got taught Vindication the same time. Um, and interestingly enough, this was just after, um, there was this whole drama. I tried to buy Vindication cause I really wanted it. And some guy was screwing me over on the marketplace and then G money gave me his copy in the interim.
00:47:36
Speaker
And I'm like, I don't like, thank you, but yeah like i had I'll deal with this. And eventually I got my copy. So then G-Man and I both had a copy and then we got taught the game and then we both sold our copies straight away. um And again, it was, I can see its value. I can see why it's a good game, but what we found in it was that there was and like an optimal strategy that was unbeatable. And it just so happened that I was doing the on optimal strategy and it was so repetitive to do this strategy that I was just kind of bored. And um and I won the game by like 40 points.
00:48:11
Speaker
And the person who taught us, he was saying, well, it's it's possible that it's just the way the tiles have come out. Like it's ah just been a bit of in the light of a fluke. Um, but it was, it was undeniable. I can't remember exactly. i don't know. I remember enough about the game to remember exactly what it was, but was something about, ah you know, how you get two different types of cubes and then you can make one cube out of that and they're more valuable.
00:48:33
Speaker
Well, I was in a situation where I was always getting these two cubes, changing it to one cube and then attacking with those cubes, I think. And then one of my people dying, but then I was able to hire a new person each time. So was just I just had this engine of just attacking everything because there was no harm. I wasn't losing anything every round or something.
00:48:49
Speaker
Something along those lines. um And anyway, it's it just, yeah, we got to the end of the game and i'm like, huh, that was not what I thought it was going to be. and And G Money was exactly the same. He was just like, yeah, that's, I'm going to sell my copy. And wow so it was really just, just missed. And, know, since then I've heard, I think you and I know my brother. We all love it. Yeah. Yeah. Like people are mad for it and yeah people's favorite games of all time. So I must've missed something, but it's unlike Concordia where I have gone back and played it. Not only have I not gone back to Vindication, I haven't really had the urge to either. So, um but,
00:49:26
Speaker
yeah know Like I said, if it's set up on a table one day and someone says, hey, Steve, we've got a spare seat. do you want to jump in? Maybe I will. But at this stage, it's definitely on the – I'm not interested. You won't be walking in and trying to go, know, shit, what can I come up with to get out of here?
00:49:42
Speaker
We've all had those games. I've just got this text from Helen. I've got to go. yeah
00:49:51
Speaker
My car's on fire. Yeah.
00:49:57
Speaker
Oh, that's great. um That's good. My number three, and this is going to be controversial, I reckon, because I reckon this game's probably still in the top 20 on BGG.
00:50:11
Speaker
um A favourite of many, many people ah and down a massive rabbit hole for many, many people as well. And that's Arkham Horror, living card games.
00:50:25
Speaker
Well, the card game itself, I i had it, played it once, went, this is shit, sold it, and never went back to it ever, and I never will.
00:50:37
Speaker
I don't like it. Yeah. But so many people love it. So many people love it. Well, I'll just jump on and put it as my number three too because it was on my Oh, really? For the same reason. Like I had the original, the base box and i played it and I'm just like, oh, I'm not getting any of the tension. I'm not, and I get it. And again, it's like my brother's favorite game. And he always tells me that it's got that other problem.
00:50:58
Speaker
said He's like, oh yeah, but the path to Carcosa is amazing. And the Dunwich Legacy is amazing. I'm like, yeah, but so now I've got to get a game that I didn't like and go and spend all this extra money just to see whether I like It and seems like a bit of a lifestyle game. So it's just, it's just off my radar altogether.
00:51:14
Speaker
Yeah. And then, and then, you know, There's all these you know different expansions out there and card packs to buy. and You see people's collections and they're huge. And you're like, why? i don't i do not get it.
00:51:27
Speaker
um I don't know. It just did not did not grill with me. And I was just like, yeah, no. I ah sold it pretty damn quick. and At that time, like I had Mage Knight. I had a few other really good solo games as well. So and most of my time was playing those bigger games Dragon Ball.
00:51:44
Speaker
trying to get my head around this stupid card game. So, but, you know, this is just my opinion because it's so popular out there. Yeah. Well, we've actually mentioned yeah all all the games we've mentioned so far are pretty, pretty hot property. You know, a lot of people, yeah, we're not not mentioning like, you know, um what's that? Yeah.
00:52:07
Speaker
trust me, and I'm a doctor or something like that. Yeah, or cards against humanity. and Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is something I'll never play. ah But no, it very, very interesting um that the three games we've all chosen so far are very popular.
Game Preferences: Brass vs. Raiders
00:52:26
Speaker
Well, per per goal it's brand new, but I can tell you right now that'll be popular in the marketplace and because of how nice it looks. So... um Very good. Very good. How about you go, your number two? Mix it up a bit. I you get i need to think. oh
00:52:44
Speaker
And I'm just, I just know, do I know? i I'm going to go with another game that's ah fairly popular and actually made by the same people who made um Vindication. i actually liked it more than Vindication, but this is Unsettled.
00:52:58
Speaker
And the reason I don't want to play Unsettled again is because of the way that it's made. So it's a little bit like final girl in the sense that there's this core system and then you have to plug in a planet and play with that element.
00:53:14
Speaker
And while I understand that that's great and all, because yeah, there's, there's future proofing it. you can You can throw extra modules at it. It also means that your barrier for entry is quite large. Like you've got to firstly, the money side of it is large, but secondly, the, every time you play a different planet, there's the, it changes the rules somewhat.
00:53:33
Speaker
And say To me, that doesn't interest me. I just want to get a game out and play it. I don't need everything to be a lifestyle game. yeah So I get the benefit. I see why things, and even with Final Girl, like I like Final Girl, but I've only got two of the boxes. So I've got the core box and two stories.
00:53:52
Speaker
And that's like, i i every now and again, I'm like, oh, I really really like to buy everything. But then I'm like, but that's 500 bucks. Like it's too big of a jump to get into. And this is what, that's why i Unsettled for me. I played Def's copy and I was like, oh I really liked this.
00:54:08
Speaker
And then he's like, oh, you're going buy it? I'm like, not at all, like no chance because it's, I'm not going to spend this much money on a game where then I'm just going to have to, keep spending money and I say this and I'm already hearing the hypocrite in my voice because of all of the Marvel Champions stuff I've got and all of the unmatched stuff I've got so it's not like I don't do it for other things but um I guess Marvel Champions is a pack that costs you like 14 bucks and I haven't bought one in three years Unsettled is a box that costs like 80 bucks.
00:54:38
Speaker
So it's a lot. It's a big outlay just for another planet, know, that you'll eventually want to get another planet and then another planet. Yep. So yeah, Unsettled, good game, but I just can't get into that universe.
00:54:49
Speaker
You might be able to pick it up cheaper on Marketplace, with the whole lot, um because I know i I ended up selling my copies of it and mine was the Kickstarter one.
00:55:01
Speaker
Yeah, right. And ah yeah I didn't sell it for a great price. It was, you know, what I paid for it really. And so you might be able to find it, mate, with the you know, with a heap of planets already done for you there.
00:55:12
Speaker
Potentially, but even then, like it it wasn't world-beating amazing, I want play this again. yeah It was just a game. So I don't know whether I'd even, you know, would which it never would be. It would have to be under three figures for me to pick my interest. Yeah.
00:55:29
Speaker
It's interesting because when you mentioned Final Girl, um So I've got the video recorder box with all the playmats in there. I've got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, seven chapters to to play, all still in shrink.
00:55:46
Speaker
I've got all the minis. I've got the birds. but Everything's sitting there in shrink. So I've even got the the Santa Claus, ah the Santa's village one as well, so ah to play at Christmas time.
00:55:59
Speaker
Yeah, cool. Yeah. but very And again, like a similar setup, but a box costs you like 30 bucks, 40 bucks. Like that's, that's easier to plug in. That's easier to go. Oh yeah. Different story. I'll go for that. But yeah, not not for the other one. Anyway, that was my number two.
00:56:17
Speaker
Well, my number two is going to be a bit of a controversy because there's, there's two games and it's kind of, they're games. I won't play them because there's better versions of it.
00:56:28
Speaker
Um, so yeah I've played them once and I won't play them again because it's better versions. So, uh, brass Lankenshire is one of them. won't play it. Right. Yeah. No point. No point me ever playing again. Good game. Um, but i've got brass Birmingham, which is better.
00:56:44
Speaker
Um, yeah and I've got the Roxy version of brass Birmingham, which is better. So, uh, so I'm, I'm, uh, uh, Dead keen on just playing Brass Birmingham.
00:56:57
Speaker
I don't own Lancashire, which is ridiculous, right, given that I own 33, 34 now, Martin Wallace Games. um I don't own Brass Lancashire.
00:57:08
Speaker
And the other one is, and the name of it's escaping me, and I was trying to look for it quickly in my collection there, but I can't find it. But it was the newer version of Raiders of the North Sea. What was that one called again?
00:57:20
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Raiders of Scythia. That's it. Raiders of Scythia. Played it once. Won't play it again because Raiders the North Sea is a better game. Now, Raiders of the Scythia is meant to be North Sea with all the expansions, everything chucked in. and meant to be a better game.
00:57:37
Speaker
But i don't think it is. Well, I've never played it because it's it's just a Raiders clone and that's not like us being critical of it. That's literally what it is. It is.
00:57:49
Speaker
And I've got everything Raiders, so I'm like, well, I'd probably prefer the Raiders of the North Sea theme as well.
A Cosmic Encounter with Tom Vassell
00:57:55
Speaker
Well, I didn't have everything of Raiders, so i ended up buying Raiders of Scythia, believing that that's going to be like basically the new revamped version of Raiders of the North Sea.
00:58:07
Speaker
But then I ended up picking up a playmat for Raiders of the North Sea. um So Raiders of Scythia, and after teaching Ingrid and Shane Raiders of the North Sea, and they really liked it, I'm going to donate my copy to them.
00:58:19
Speaker
so they can you know at least have it in there in their in their library. I'll never play it again. ah Very good game, but I would much prefer North Sea.
00:58:32
Speaker
That's my number two. My number one, i nearly just changed it, but I was going to change it to Wormspan because I quite liked Wormspan, but because I played Wingspan that many times, I don't think I'll ever play Wormspan again. So that's my honourable mention. That's my number six.
00:58:46
Speaker
My number one is a game I loved. And I may play it again, but I almost don't, I think it's more that I don't want to play it again because of the experience I had the first time I played it. And that was being taught Cosmic Encounter by Tom Vassell at Dice Tower Retreat.
00:59:02
Speaker
Like you're never going to I'm never going to top that experience. It's his favorite game. There was nine or 10 of us at the table. There was mad shenanigans that went on in the game. It made me want to go and buy the game. And I even did, I even asked him like,
00:59:16
Speaker
Okay. What would you recommend someone getting in buying obviously the base box, but like, you know, to get some of these combos that you've got. And he's like, look, it's really hard because I've kind of curated this box over the course of all the expansions, you know, 30 years worth of stuff going into here. So it's really hard for me to say buy this expansion, buy that expansion and you're good.
00:59:35
Speaker
So I've kind of I've looked at it a few times. I'm like, it's again, it's that jumping on point is so large because. I know what in my head, what I want out of it. I just know that I'm never going to be able to replicate it. So for me, it's just that one game that I had such a great time playing it. And, but, and and maybe I need to be at another convention, not necessarily with Tom Vassell, but just another convention where it's being played to have that enormous kind of, that's the sort of game it feels like it needs to be, but I don't know if that's ever going to happen again. So yeah, cosmic encounter brilliant game, but.
01:00:10
Speaker
I just don't see myself ever getting it to the table again. Yeah, it is a brilliant game. I've played it quite a few times and, uh, yeah, you, would you, you would go hard to beat that experience playing it with Tom. Um, and, um, but I've had lots of fun playing that game with just, you new people that I've met and just the banter you get across the table.
01:00:29
Speaker
Uh, it's not a, it's not a long game neither. Um, Yeah, and not at all what I expected it to be either. No. yeah and And honestly, it can be over pretty quick. just depends on what deals you're making on the table and who who you going to try and con into ah who eventually you end up screwing over. so There was this moment in the game, and I may have mentioned this before, so stop me if I have, but.
01:00:51
Speaker
One of the guys had a ability that allowed him to steal from the deck provided he didn't get caught. And if he got caught, there was some sort of punishment. I can't remember what the punishment was.
01:01:02
Speaker
So every now and again, we caught him stealing from the deck, but then there was this, this battle happening between two people. And it was clear that whoever won this battle was going to win the game. So he starts stealing from the deck and I go to stop him and the guy next to me goes, no, don't stop him. He's looking for a way to interact with this battle.
01:01:18
Speaker
So he's stolen like 60 cards from this deck while having this battle, trying to find something to throw out to stop them from winning the game. It was hilarious. and It was like was like this team effort to make it not happen. It was so good. But yeah, crazy game. That is good. Yeah, that is good. I've actually got Cosmic Encounter Dueled.
01:01:38
Speaker
So maybe one time when we're you and I are together, let's let's get the duel out because I've got the full gate i've got the full game map for that as well. and um I've played it a couple of times. It's just as fun with two players. Yeah, cool.
01:01:51
Speaker
So it's better with eight or nine, but it's I still enjoyed it. yeah I'll get you number one. Well, there's no surprise what my number one is going to be and anyone that knows me very well.
01:02:02
Speaker
um And it's that sidereal convluence. The worst game I have ever played. i will never, ever play it again. There'll be no convincing me of ever playing that again.
01:02:15
Speaker
To the young gentleman in our board game community that loves that game and cons everyone into playing it every time we're at a convention and walks past the table, come on, Shane, come on, Shane, I'm playing it, I'm playing it.
01:02:26
Speaker
It's never going to happen. Never, ever, ever going to happen. um
Why Avoid Sidereal Confluence Forever?
01:02:31
Speaker
I wasted five hours of my life that day. And I would have much rather put bloody tic-tac, that you know, tacks in my bloody eyelids than sit there and play that game again. so And we are a G-rated show. I won't say what I actually call that game.
01:02:49
Speaker
hi Although think I've dropped a few bombs today. it's this Yeah. It's just, it's shit real confluence. say it is dumb. I think the first time you said that though, you said shit real confusion. Confusion. Yeah, that's it. That's what I was saying. Shit real confusion.
01:03:04
Speaker
this To sit there and talk to someone about trading ah cube for 15 minutes, it is just dumb. Yeah. Like, I'm sorry. Dumb.
01:03:16
Speaker
I have no interest in playing that game, mostly because of what you said, but. I agree. Like, it sounds to me like that would be so important for somebody. Like, that part of the game would be the reason they love it.
01:03:28
Speaker
So then it becomes the only thing that they care about. And you're just like, come on. but Let's move on. Oh, no, but just hearing them talk, like, it's like they're in they're on the freaking ship.
01:03:39
Speaker
And it's like they're they're in the ship talking to lieutenants and being the engineers. And I'm like, oh, my God, stop this. Like,
01:03:50
Speaker
oh too good it's just the dumbest dumbest game out there um i did think of another one as you were talking about it because i didn't really think about games that i just straight up didn't like um i don't know why because that would make it so much easier but um i gotta throw in inish um you were you asked about it the other week i did the kickstarter yeah and uh yeah just just an awful experience um to And again, it could have been the teacher and that's, you know, there's a bit of a trend there with that particular teacher. Yeah, no, I'd say it would be the teacher. But yeah, I just had no interest in exploring that anymore. And wasn't the only one because Sarah, who was also part of the podcast, we both learned it from the same person and we dubbed it Binnish and it will forever be Binnish.
01:04:39
Speaker
in our in our opinions. So, yeah, that definitely deserves. I try to be more positive and say games that were actually good that I didn't like, but that game's a piece trash as far as I'm concerned.
01:04:55
Speaker
Oh, no. I just, yeah. Anyway. Shit real confusion. See you later. But no, no, thanks, mate. That was good fun. And please, you these are just our opinions of these games.
01:05:09
Speaker
sure I'm sure you'll have a different opinion. For those shit real confusion players out there, enjoy. do you ever Never, ever walk up to me and ask me to play.
01:05:20
Speaker
there's we <unk>t Wasn't there a story where someone asked you to play it at a game day and this big bolt of lightning hit at the same time they asked? It was hilarious. It was a massive bolt of lightning and a big thunder roared. And it was like it it was close too, so it was like instant.
01:05:36
Speaker
And I actually looked at him and said, there's your answer. That ain't happening. The gods have spoken. The gods have spoken.
What's Next? Reflecting on the Episode
01:05:45
Speaker
as That's true. Fantastic. That was at a game day. That was hilarious.
01:05:49
Speaker
Because we all looked at each other. And when I said, yeah, there's your answer, we just lost it. Everyone lost it at the table. It was hilarious. That's fantastic. All right. Well, ah I guess we'll finish up the topic there and go to the most important question. What's your plan? What what games are going try and table? in the next I'll be lucky if I table any games. Um,
01:06:09
Speaker
because got a fair bit of travel this week. I'm off to Perth and then off to Melbourne, so all in one week. So it's got a fair bit on. But you know what?
01:06:20
Speaker
I might look and see what I need to do to maybe pack a story from fighting fighting fantasies and take that with me um versus taking a whole box. At least it's it is solo. It's solo game, so pack the rules and...
01:06:37
Speaker
pack a story if I can I don't know I don't know anything about the game but um but apart from that I might look at my little pack there and see what I can take away and might even take a final girl there you go give final girl a go but I will pack something so that I can play but there'll be a heap of BGA so just invite me ah he ah it looks like beer and bread's coming out on BGA yeah I did see that yeah so yeah yeah so let's get a game of that going what about you um Well, Clank Legacy 2 is currently set up on my table. We got slightly interrupted last night. just little a little bit.
01:07:11
Speaker
Yeah. So playing that this morning, which I'm very much looking forward to. But I finally got, um well, I shouldn't say i' finally got, that sounds like I should have come ages ago, but I got Craft in the Cosmos.
01:07:22
Speaker
So I'm very keen to learn that so we can have a chat about that on a future episode. So I'm going to try and, after my success of learning Endeavor Deep Sea and how good that game was, well, actually,
01:07:33
Speaker
I probably just want to play more of that, to be honest. I really want to play that a few more times and see how different the scenarios are and whatever else. So I'm very keen to play more of that. But I would also like to learn crafting the cosmos this week and just sort of – I'm not a big space man, but um it looks really cool. So I'm sure there's a good game there.
01:07:52
Speaker
Yeah, but I'm going to – I'll hold my my thoughts on it.
01:07:57
Speaker
And, yeah, no, won't say anything. Did you get Pegola to the – Yes. ah No, I didn't get it to the table, actually. um What did we play? um We played... I'm just trying to think because we had mentioned on a couple of weeks ago that we had people coming around who and one of them was new to the hobby so I didn't want to hit them too hard.
01:08:19
Speaker
um But what did we play? I honestly can't remember now. know we played just one at one point. but um Memorable day. Yeah, now I feel like now i feel bad. i Oh, Quacks. We played Quacks. Oh, of course. Yeah, why wouldn't Yeah.
01:08:34
Speaker
Yeah, and they loved it. Yeah, of course they would have. yeah so Perfect game. Yeah. All right. Well, um <unk> we'll finish up the up there. Great chat. It an interesting topic. I didn't expect it to be as interesting as it was because we thought of it as we started the show. And who would have thought we would have had a crossover, hey?
01:08:51
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. and And I thought of two other games to add later. So here I was thinking, how the hell am I going to get five? Ended up with seven. yeah So there you go. but All right, mate. Well, thank you. Have a great week. All right. Have a great weekend. Whatever's left of it.
01:09:05
Speaker
Safe travels and talk to you later. Cheers, mate.