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Episode 12:More predictions, and Steve falls further down the train void
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Welcome to Episode 12 of Mate Let's Play. This episode, Steve and Shane discuss recently played games and dive again into predictions for industry awards. This time, it is the 18th annual Dice Tower awards!
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Transcript
Introduction to Episode 12
00:00:14
Speaker
Welcome everyone to, what are we, episode 12 of Mate Let's Play, 12 episodes where we've just talked about the games we like to play and probably not very professionally, but hey, no one's professional after 12 episodes, so who knows what the future will bring.
Predicting Dice Tower Awards
00:00:28
Speaker
Hey Shane, how you doing? it I am fantastic, happy Saturday morning and yeah, no, stuff professional, who gives that, where do we don't do that shit, so...
00:00:38
Speaker
There we go. So there goes our PG rating for the first minute now. Yeah, sorry. How to ruin your PG rating in two seconds. Well done, Shane.
00:00:49
Speaker
Woo!
00:00:51
Speaker
Well, today we are going to be talking about some board games. Surprise, surprise. We're all going to continue this random trend that we just... We did like four um top tens in a row or something. And now we're in our third show in a row where we're going to be predicting winners of an award, ah board game awards, which I guess it is award season, so that makes a bit of sense. But it is kind of funny how they've just so like they just fall on top of each other like they have. Yeah.
00:01:18
Speaker
We're doing the Dice Tower Awards today. So we'll see how we go. Predictably, you know, predictably it's, you know, I was looking at the lot of these nominations and there's a lot of games missing, but anyway.
00:01:29
Speaker
Well, who am i I think maybe because i as we did, our one of our top 10 lists was where we go to for gaming content. And I had the Dice Tower as number one. And so it's probably not much of a surprise that I've actually played more of these games than I have of any of the other awards we've done.
00:01:48
Speaker
So I guess that sort of stands to reason because that's where, know, these are the games that... have been promoted on the Dice Tower quite well because, I mean, it's not voted on by the Dice Tower at this point, but at the same time, it's the viewers of the Dice Tower or the other reviewers that are voting for it. So there's going to be a bit of a link there.
00:02:05
Speaker
So it'll be interesting.
Games at the Brisbane Office
00:02:06
Speaker
But before we get to that, let's talk about some other games that have been hitting the table. Shane, I'll start with you. What's been what's been going on down in BrisVegas? BrisVegas. Well, Flip 7 is definitely getting played in the office.
00:02:20
Speaker
And I don't know mentioned ah last episode, but I did a 3D printed trophy that we are now passing around the office. and But yeah, that is still that's still going this week. It was it was quite a hilarious.
00:02:34
Speaker
we We had a new team member start on our team and she had to be taught. Had to play Flip 7, so the meeting was put in the calendar and off we went. And and and she ended up winning.
00:02:46
Speaker
So she's now got the trophy sitting on her desk, so congratulations. um But again, another person that went, yep, I really like this game. I have to get it. um Yeah.
00:02:57
Speaker
So, you know, it's kind of living up to its name as the greatest card game of all time, isn't it? Well, it is very, like, i don't it's not UNO-esque, but it's as simple as UNO. So it's goingnna it's going to be easy for anyone to pick up and and play. if You don't have to be a gamer by any stretch. ah correct. And it's probably more simpler than UNO, I think. Yeah, probably. it's um and ah Anyway, so that's been played. And I had my regular Thursday night game night with Pastor Nick and Andy.
00:03:26
Speaker
um Lucky Phil is currently, ah he couldn't make this one. So he's... um We played Great Western Trail again with, now I don't know, you might be able to help me here, the Northern Rails expansion. The Railways of the North, yeah. Railways of the North expansion, there you go yeah.
00:03:44
Speaker
Where um you kind of then started heading out to other parts of the map with your houses, I think they were. They were these little houses you put on the map.
00:03:57
Speaker
I liked it, I liked it, but you know I'm still yet to rock Great Western Trail, right, to add more further complexity and more yeah that's right um other things that you can do. i just i just i just went down the strategy of collecting cows this time and absolutely got trounced past the Nick.
00:04:19
Speaker
He saw the matrix and I think it about three quarters way through the game. You could just see he was just going bang, bang, bang, bang. And, you know, yeah you are seeing the matrix when you're banging it out that quick. yeah And, yeah, I think the difference between and his score and my score was around about 70 points. Oof.
00:04:39
Speaker
yep Yep. Yeah. i So, yes, I did get smashed. But, you know ah you know what? I enjoyed it. So it is it is slowly climbing up to a game I like, but there is so much you could do in that game, you know, even adding this this Railways to the North expansion. Yeah.
00:04:58
Speaker
There's just so much strategy that you could do. It'd be endless playing this game.
00:05:04
Speaker
Well, I guess that's probably why it so well ah liked. i find I agree. I feel like every time I play it, I feel like I'm doing something different, but I still haven't figured out how to turn that into victory points in any kind of successful way.
00:05:16
Speaker
But yeah, it's I've tried the buildings. I've tried the cows like you, getting the train up and trying to mix trains with cows, which does seem to work. um But, yeah, it's's it's not ah it's not a sit-down-play-once-and-you-know-how-to-play-it-perfectly kind game.
00:05:33
Speaker
Well, the two times I've played it, um so the first time I played it, I just completely went down the the deck shredding route to the point only had at the end the end of the last round, I had six cards in my hand, so I was just pretty much playing the maximum points I could get.
00:05:48
Speaker
And then this time, I actually didn't advance my train down the track. That far? Yeah. And past me he goes, Shane, I don't think ever seen anyone play like this.
00:06:02
Speaker
And he said that to me the previous week when I was shredding my neck. So, but yeah, no, I just didn't. I think my train, the furthest I went, I think there was like three or four.
Exploring 'Wonderland's War'
00:06:12
Speaker
Oh, wow. Yeah.
00:06:14
Speaker
you're just spending all your money trying to deliver stuff further up the track. Correct. Yeah, yeah. But then I seemed to be flushed with cash for the whole game anyway, so. I guess if it works, it works.
00:06:24
Speaker
Yeah. Anyway. But it didn't because you lost by 70. It didn't work. So to anyone you know listening to this podcast, our our one listener, ah don't do what Shane does.
00:06:38
Speaker
ah Yeah. That's it. That's all I've been playing. Well, speaking of games that we talked about last week, I had another game of Wonderland's War on the weekend. And this time we did use the the B side of the of the of the followers.
00:06:54
Speaker
And it was interesting because we looked at all the the abilities of the B side. We all were like, oh, maybe we should switch back to the A side. This seems a little bit more...
00:07:06
Speaker
like little less fun but more plany i guess was like what we kind of gathered by reading them but then it actually turned out we we all but enjoyed the b side far more than the a side because it was very much uh like well our scores all went up by 20 just by making that one change uh and things like uh the the quests became i've never had so many quests in that game i had like i think i cashed in five quests which was like um like 30 something points in quests at the end of the game um and but again it was myself manuel liliana and helen and helen hadn't played for a while so it was her first time back into the game she really picked it up pretty quick she was pretty competitive but manuel and i were just at each other all game
00:07:52
Speaker
to the point where he had the Cheshire Cat and that's the one where he rolls the shard dice. He only takes the one shard and he can give the other shards to other people.
00:08:03
Speaker
He just gave it to me every time. He's just dumping it on my... He hasn't learned. And so ah we were just back and forth and back and forth.
00:08:14
Speaker
And I got to, i think it was like the the second act. I got nothing. Like I just, I went out and I had, i was the yeah queen of hearts, the queen hearts.
00:08:27
Speaker
Yeah. I'm missing a name there. But anyway, her, I say she has the ability to be able to put her fighters anywhere. She doesn't have to follow the rule that they want to go in the one zone. So I was everywhere. And I thought I was pretty well covered everywhere.
00:08:39
Speaker
we had all the battles. I lost every battle. And I had some situations where I was like, I need to ah need to put a castle here for for a quest. ye I need to get to this number for a quest.
00:08:51
Speaker
And I also would just miss those every time. And I'm like, I came out of the second round going, I'm stuffed. I've got nothing. Like I just lost everything that I was working towards. But then on the flip side, coming into the third era,
00:09:03
Speaker
I hit everything and I came from nowhere and nearly won the game. ended up losing just on shards, which thanks Manuel for that. ah It was, ah but that was a really good game. And I think um I scored like, I think I scored like 90, 98 and Manuel won on like 103. And we were both over a hundred before we had to take our shards off when were doing a victory point. So it was like, was really tight.
00:09:27
Speaker
um Helen was about 10 or 15 behind me and, Unfortunately, Liliana didn't have a great game. she made some um She made some bad decisions. It's the easiest, nicest way to make that.
00:09:38
Speaker
At one point she went... ah keep it Sorry, mate. Yeah. So at one point she put ah one worker she put her um her leader her only worker.
00:09:49
Speaker
into a spot where that leader was her only worker And then I put my leader into that same spot and I had the ability that when I put my leader into one spot, every everyone loses one ally. So she lost her leader.
00:10:00
Speaker
So she had nothing and she's wasted her leader for the whole battle round. I'm like, I feel bad doing this, but I need my leader there. You don't say that the time. You feel bad. bull Well, she was she was the stone she was in Stone Motherless last at that point. So I wasn't out to get her.
00:10:17
Speaker
i was out to get Manuel, who was also in that zone, and I wanted to beat in the battle. So I'm like, I have to go here. But yes, sorry. And then later on, we got to that battle, and she forgot that she got knocked out. And we kind of all did.
00:10:30
Speaker
So she was drawing chips out and she had this bag that just wrecked everybody else. So the one where the next chip you draw out is zero, no matter what the value is. the next The next madness chip you draw out is double madness.
00:10:41
Speaker
And so Manuel and I are battling this like really crucial battle. And then she's pulling out chips and going, oh, no, next chip's worth zero. Oh, no, next chip's double madness. So we're like and a halfway through the battle and we're like, why are you in this fight?
00:10:55
Speaker
And she's looked down and gone, oh, no, that's right.
00:11:00
Speaker
She's just been totally messing with us for the whole battle.
Spotlight on Eris Alla's Games
00:11:03
Speaker
So it was hilarious. it was hilarious so that it was a really good game. And I'm very keen now to like probably play the B side again ah one or two times, but then also check out what – because there's a C side and the D side, and then we've also got the Shards of Madness expansion, which I haven't even opened yet. So that adds other things, other –
00:11:23
Speaker
characters as well so yeah it just it can't go wrong that game every time i play it we're just like we just want to play it again so uh yeah wonderland's war is is rocketing up my uh i would imagine my top 100 and see where it ends up come what november this year brilliant brilliant i haven't played it for a long while now but um i like it i like it a lot i've got similar to you i've got a full kit so yeah What about you? Any other games besides Slip 7?
00:11:55
Speaker
No, no other games. Great Western Trail, sorry. No, no other games I've been playing. But I wouldn't mind actually just go back to Briscon, if that's okay, because um there was a board game designer there, ah Delta Phase Games, which is Eris Alla, which you know Eris pretty well.
00:12:15
Speaker
um And he's a local Brisbane designer. um And he was there... that you know showing two of his new games, which is one's called Sugar ah Feed the Fruitosaurs.
00:12:28
Speaker
um And it's ah it's a card game um for two to four players. And um it plays in about 30 minutes. And what I like about ah Delta Phase games is they're very family-orientated.
00:12:42
Speaker
Like, you can sit around the the table. and It just takes me back. It took me back to playing cards as a kid. with yeah with your with your parents, you know what I mean? So it's playing, you know, or it's playing 500 or, you know, so something along those lines. And um in in in Sugar Feed the Fruitosaurs, you basically got a hand of cards, hand of um five cards, and they're fruit.
00:13:10
Speaker
And what you're what you're doing is, you know, you're you're doing two things. two different types of actions. You're either swapping your cards. So you select one to five cards from your hand and you swap them for cards in the market row.
00:13:23
Speaker
Or you play cards. So you play cards from your hand onto a single column in the p play area. um And each card you play must you know match the fruit or the number of the cards in that column.
00:13:36
Speaker
So you're building a column of cards. um And then, or you can you know gather fruit. So if you, uh, if the number of the last, so, so when you do that, if the number of cards, the last card you play matches the total number of cards in that column, you gather fruit.
00:13:54
Speaker
And what, what that does is you're, you're going, um, uh, you gather, you know, you gather that fruit and put it down to your side and your player, player, or you attract the fruit of swords. So, um, if the number that the number of the last card that you played,
00:14:10
Speaker
um does not match the total number of cards in the column, you attract fruitosaurs. and So you can go and buy fruitosaur, right, which is between, I think it's between one and five.
00:14:23
Speaker
Just having a quick look. Yeah, one and five fruitosaurs, which is your points, right? And they they're different. You know, there's a strawberry fruitosaur. There's a, it looks like a lime, pineapple, grapes.
00:14:37
Speaker
They're all different, you know, different colours and different, you but that's the fruit that that fruitosaur eats. So the number of, so let's say the number of strawberries you get at the end of the game, you total up by your fruitosaur that you have, and that's how many points you get.
00:14:52
Speaker
Um, and your highest points wins at the in game, and the game ends when all the cards run out. It's just, it was really good. I played it, it played at about 30 minutes, and I played it with Eris and, um, someone else from the community as well, and we both enjoyed it.
00:15:05
Speaker
Um, it was a really quick card game. Um, And to the point where then we'd finished that so quickly. I think we played that probably in about 15 minutes with Eris teaching us both. um And I enjoyed it. It was really good. I'm going to say won that game, which is very rare that you beat Eris in his own game.
00:15:25
Speaker
he's He's very good at his own game, as you would think. and um But, you know, hes he's so humble the way he teaches the game as well. so um And then because we finished that so quickly and my other game for Brucecon hasn't started. Um, I asked, could we play his other game there that he had, which was called Delta Rummy, which is just a 72 card deck.
00:15:48
Speaker
And you've got numbers between one and eight and eight different colors. And then you've got, uh, eight wilds throughout the the deck as well. And basically it's, it's a rummy, rummy game, right? So, um,
00:16:02
Speaker
It's for two to four players. It plays in 10 minutes, like quite literally. It's so quick. Like you go through the deck really fast. And the way it's played is the first move you're doing it in your in your in your hand is your... It's like an auction phase first. So there's a ah set of cards out in front in the market row and everyone has to bid to go first, second or third if they're in a three-player card game, right?
00:16:28
Speaker
You take the highest card of your hand and bid. And you'll do a flip and then that person, whoever comes first, gets to take choose from the row first, second, and then basically whoever's third gets to pick up all the other cards that are there.
00:16:45
Speaker
And then what you're doing is you're either buying, so you're swapping cards from card that you bid from the market and or you're building.
00:16:56
Speaker
So then you're starting to make you know sets and runs from all the cards that are in your hand. And it's that simple. You're just making sets and runs, bidding, buying, sets and runs.
00:17:07
Speaker
And once the card deck runs out, you total up all your sets, all your runs, um any wilds that are in that you've used to make up your sets and runs. Again, 10 minutes, a great little family card game.
00:17:20
Speaker
So I just sort of wanted to mention them both. um And I don't know if Eris has a website or you Delta Phase Games. i'm sure they do. I might try and look up Delta Phase
Passion for Train Games
00:17:32
Speaker
Games and post it in the um show notes for anyone that wants just a nice family card game.
00:17:37
Speaker
um You know, I could sit there and probably teach that to, I think, probably a little bit too... um My boys would probably like it, to be honest with you. They're near, you know, 16.
00:17:49
Speaker
It'd be a card game I could play at work. um You know, adults could play it, um but then also too, you could actually sit there as a family and play it as well. Cool. Yeah, nice. Yeah, so just sort of mentioned that.
00:18:01
Speaker
It's interesting. I played a prototype with Eris when I was last at the community place, and actually had some problems with it, and I i spoke to him about i said, oh, you know, I can see this being an issue. And I and i wonder, listening to you explain that first game,
00:18:19
Speaker
I wonder if that's a future iteration of the game I played because it had some similarities, but it also had a fair bit difference. It had no theme when I played it, whatever it was. but So I don't know if it's the same game, but it definitely had a similar setup. Yeah, it might have been. I know it's been around for a while, that one.
00:18:35
Speaker
But what what I like about Aeris' games, um ah it's the design of them and the cards that he uses. they're good It's all good quality. And the the visual art that he he comes up with as well is really good.
00:18:49
Speaker
ah yeah ah Nice, nice local designer, doing well. Yeah, he's doing well. and um you know Delta Phase Games, congratulations to him. He's got two games out. and I know there's another one that I'm really hanging out for him to and get published. and It's one of my favourite games he has. and ah think it's I've been playing that one for quite a while whenever he's at a game night.
00:19:12
Speaker
I always ask him to drag it out, so I won't mention it on the show. but um Eris, if you're listening... How much longer before that game comes out?
00:19:23
Speaker
It's funny you mention that because i was going to ask if you got Steam Power to the table. Because remember a couple of years ago you were a saying similar things about Steam Power. this This new game from Martin Wallace that's coming and sir but it's a bit of a...
00:19:39
Speaker
if you do his older train games and all this sort of stuff, and i'm like, okay, righto, now it's in my collection. I haven't played it yet, but I've got it. um But speaking of train games, as ah somewhat of a segue, the the ridiculous ah train rabbit hole that I have gone down has grown in size.
00:19:58
Speaker
So I now have all three of the major... Not including Steam Power. So let's go four of the major train games that Martin Wallace has been involved with, whether he's credited or not.
00:20:10
Speaker
So, which is Age of Steam. I've got Steam coming in the post. ah So I've got that on the marketplace, which I was happy with. um And I've just got Railways of the World.
00:20:21
Speaker
So I bought Railways the World and the Railways of Australia yeah expansion, of course, as if you wouldn't if you're in Australia. And I've got it to the table. It is humongous. I don't know if you've played. Have you seen Railways the World live? I haven't seen it, no, no.
00:20:37
Speaker
So take Age of Steam and add maybe 70% of size. Oh, gosh. but But the track is smaller. So the map is humongous, which is very interesting because, you know, the the beauty, I guess, of games like Age of Steam is that you get in each other's way pretty early on and you've got to be creative.
00:20:58
Speaker
And I haven't played at full play count, so Rail has the world yet, but it seems to have the opposite problem where, you're kind of out on your own. You don't get to use other people's networks. You don't, you don't know really interacting as much, but the way you fix that in the Australian map is you just play the East coast.
00:21:14
Speaker
And if you've got one to two players, and then if you've got four players, you play over to all the way over to Western Australia, but not in Western Australia. And then if you've got six players, you play the whole of Australia. So I do like that, that you can sort of manipulate the board a little bit, but the, the Eastern USA one was really interesting because you've got these little pockets where there's, there's heaps of stations and heaps of cities, just all like, you know, the Northeast corner where you've got like you Boston, New York, New Hampshire, all that sort of area. And then like all around Chicago and Wisconsin, you've got a big chunk of places there.
00:21:45
Speaker
ah But what's really cool is um you get points. There's, there's some cards you can take. So start of each round, Unlike Age of Steam, where you're playing like this the phases through one to ten, in Railways the World, you play three turns per round.
00:22:01
Speaker
And on those three turns, you can do what you would normally expect to be able to you know, build track, deliver goods, upgrade your your locomotive or whatever. Or the other option is to take one of the cards that's in the display um at the bottom of the board, and they give you these extra benefits. Like, you know, I can build four tracks and they don't cost me any money, or I can build through mountains and they don't cost any money.
00:22:22
Speaker
But I've got these other ones that are like um gain four victory points or whatever it is, four movements up the yeah economy um the if every time a good gets delivered to Boston, for example.
00:22:37
Speaker
But it doesn't have to be your goods. It could be anyone. So if you grab one of those cards, even if you're nowhere near Boston, you just start raking up the points because other people are delivering to Boston because it's quite a – yeah popular route or whatever else, you know? So it was, they've got these other things that you, while you're focusing on your own little game, because the map is a bit bigger, you've really also got to focus on what else is going on because some of these cards will manipulate the points.
00:23:04
Speaker
Someone's making this great delivery to Boston thinking that they're going to score three points. And because you hold this one card, you're getting four. And then they do it again you're getting eight. you're just like it just So it it does, it although it has more space, it also it doesn't lose that interaction through the cards. But overall, the games are very similar.
00:23:21
Speaker
so But I don't know why. I don't know what's happened. But it's just I've just gone on this train binge and um I'm loving it. so You're going to start going down the Martin Wallace hole, mate. Well, it's it's interesting because I've always said Martin Wallace for me is very hit and miss.
00:23:37
Speaker
um I do like this train style system. I've always liked Age of Steam, so that's not a big surprise. Obviously, I like Brass. But after that, I haven't got – and obviously when I played Discworld with you, i quite like that.
00:23:49
Speaker
yeah But there are some other games of his that have just missed for me. And so I don't think I'm going to go down the rabbit hole like you have. um but i'm willing to willing to peer into that rabbit hole from the train rabbit hole and see what i can salvage out of it. So yeah, I just had a lot of fun with it. And it's, it's linked with, um I don't know if you've ever heard of a YouTuber called Downy live.
00:24:12
Speaker
no This is going a little bit off topic, but he is, I got ahold of him when um I was planning my USA trip. Cause we were looking at potentially doing a train trip from point A to point B. And um I was like, I wonder whether it's like, I hate trains in my head. I'm like, I hate trains. don't really want to do a train on my holiday.
00:24:28
Speaker
Yeah. And I found his YouTube channel and he just does all these train trips. And I'm like, after seeing him doing it, I'm like, heck yeah, I want to do that. That sounds awesome. So we booked it and I kept following his um channel and I've just gotten Raf into his channel because he's just done this one where he's gone from above the Arctic circle all the way to Africa, just on trains.
00:24:47
Speaker
And Raf's been watching every episode with me. And... What that means is now Raf's more interested in playing train games, which is a massive win for me. But while we're playing these train games, we're like, we're, don't know, like, um, tire kicking about what we want to do on a holiday in the future. He's like, dad, we could catch a train from Cairns to Brisbane and just take the train games and play train games on a train our way to Brisbane. And I'm like, let's cry yes, we can. Yes, we can. And yes, we are.
00:25:21
Speaker
So it's really, yeah, it's kind of bizarre. this This little train fixation I've had has kind of spawned into different areas. But I've got my son coming along with me, which I did not expect.
00:25:31
Speaker
So, yeah, it's it's been been good fun. So you haven't played Steam Power yet at all? No, I'm actually going to try and play that this weekend. ah yeah Raph will pick it up like that. It's really easy, very simple, and it's great.
00:25:47
Speaker
Great game. I'm actually going to do the solo thing. i've got some I've got the afternoon on my own this afternoon, so I'm just going to set up a couple of solo games and Steam Power is going to be one of them. So I'm going solo it.
00:25:58
Speaker
I'm going to use the Australian map as well. Yeah, cool. Yeah, I haven't even looked at the maps yet. i just unpacked it and went, oh, and then I just, on one side of it, I saw Condobal and I'm like, oh, that's obviously the Australian map.
00:26:11
Speaker
And um it's like I'm actually printing a 3D insert for it at the moment, so. because it's crying out for it. It is, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. and And on the flip side of that, though, I've now got with Railways of the World, because in the box it comes with railways of Mexico, railways of Eastern US, and then also got railways of Australia.
00:26:32
Speaker
It's got this great insert, but it sits like an inch and a half off the bottom of the box for no reason. And then you can't put the maps in on the top because ah you have lid lift.
00:26:44
Speaker
So I'm thinking of either trying to like get a Stanley knife and take an inch off the bottom of the insert or just turfing the insert and going to baggies. But yeah, so um yeah. Anyway, that's my possibly boring train binge. I feel sorry for everyone who's listening who doesn't like trains because we've talked about Great Western Trail and train games.
00:27:06
Speaker
Well, mate, there's a whole stack of games that you could probably get into Martins that are very similar themes, like Via Nebula, ships, aeroplanes.
00:27:17
Speaker
There's plenty, mate.
New Game Acquisitions
00:27:19
Speaker
There's plenty. And um on on on the Martin Wallace theme, you I will say that I did pick up my 32nd game of Martins. And it's a game I've been wanting for a while, but it's just been way out of my price range.
00:27:33
Speaker
And... for a second hand game, put it that way, because so you can't get it new. um And that's The Witches. So it's Terry Pratchett. It's a similar vein to, you know, Unc Morpok.
00:27:45
Speaker
um I haven't even looked at it yet. still sitting here. just arrived yesterday. So haven't even unboxed it to have a look at it. um So number 32. I'm going to put that on display. I'll put that under the Unc Morpok Discworld. So...
00:28:00
Speaker
um um I haven't even been watched it you know any anything on the game. I just went, yep, going to buy it. there they cool and it was It was cheap. it was Because i've I've seen it often around 300, 350, and I picked it up for half that. So happy days. Fair enough. Happy days.
00:28:19
Speaker
um Have you seen anything on Kickstarter, mate? Well, i I have actually, but i'm going to I'm going to segue one more time before we move away from the games because I did play another cool game that I kind of forgot about.
00:28:31
Speaker
But it has it does have a tangent to train games. So it fits in with our theme of if you don't like train games, we're very sorry. but So I got 10 Days in the USA recently, which is a game that's designed by Alan Moon, who obviously designed Ticket to Ride. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:28:47
Speaker
And this little game, this I can see this being a great first or last game in a game night. It could be my could be my go-to for the next yeah however long period of time. It's such a cool game. And it's so once you once you understand what you're doing, you're away. there's like There's maybe a ah one or two-minute break moment where like, oh, I don't quite understand. And then, then you're away. It's it's, it's all. And basically what you're doing is it's a map of America. There's a deck of cards that has every 50, one of every state. So 50 States, it has 10 airplanes and five, uh, cars.
00:29:24
Speaker
And you draw a hand of 10 cards that you have to put out one by one in an order from 1 to 10 on your little play area. And you can't change the order. Once you choose the cards going in 5, it's staying in 5.
00:29:36
Speaker
And then what you're trying to do is get those 10 cards to be a complete journey that is possible out of the map. In order to do that, you need to start in one state, you need to end in a state, and you need to yeah be able to make an accurate loop link link between the two.
00:29:52
Speaker
So if I've got like California, I can go to Nevada because they're next door to each other, so I can walk from California to Nevada. But then if I've got a state that's two away from Nevada, I would need to take a car so I can drive through the state that I'm missing.
00:30:07
Speaker
And then if I want, say, something completely on other side map, like say, I don't know, like Virginia, Virginia has got a particular color to it. So, so long as I have the plane of that same color, I play the plane first, then I play Virginia and it's like I'm flying to Virginia and then I can start out from there.
00:30:23
Speaker
So, once you've got your starting 10 cards, you have ah draw a pile and three discard piles that you can, on your turn, take one of those cards and replace one of the 10 cards in your row with that card.
00:30:37
Speaker
So you're just kind of swapping out cards here and there and you, and and it it works so well. And you do things like there's some little bits of strategy there. Like you throw out a card, thinking i want that card back i just i don't want anyone to put a card on top of it before it comes back to me so i can take it again because i want it to go somewhere else in my road but where it is right now doesn't work there's things like that there's it's it's just a really cool game and we played it like five or six times in a row the the three of us and yeah it's a winner so it's been out for ages it's it's not new by any stretch but i think it must have just been reprinted because the version i got
00:31:13
Speaker
was pretty new looking um as far as the graphic design is concerned. Definitely doesn't look old. ah Like real simple, like literally the deck of cards, the board and these and these card holders, that's it. That's the game. So I recommend... it a very small box?
00:31:29
Speaker
It's about this ah what would be a like half of a ticket-to-ride size box in all dimensions, so like 15 by 15 and maybe four centimetres high. I'm thinking I've seen it somewhere.
00:31:41
Speaker
Yeah. yeah okay probably I'm wondering whether it's just been re-released because it just i I haven't seen it for ages. And I've always thought, because I heard about it years ago, and because I'm a massive ticket-to-ride fan, and I'm like, oh I've ever seen that game. I'll grab it. And then I did. So I did. And it's great.
00:31:56
Speaker
so Okay. Yeah, definitely worth checking out. And there's like 10 days in Europe and I'm sure there's others as well. But yeah, 10 days in the USA was a winner.
Backing Games on Kickstarter
00:32:05
Speaker
And like I said, we've got we got a game day happening, think today and definitely tomorrow. And I think it's an easy pull out and play at the start. That's great that you've got so many game days happening. That's great.
00:32:16
Speaker
Hopefully today, definitely tomorrow, yes. we've Friends of ours who we haven't actually gamed with for a while, have we caught up with them during the week and we were both going through these lists of games that we want to play with each other and we're like, right, what are we doing this Sunday?
00:32:30
Speaker
So, yeah, that's it. That's brilliant. Brilliant. No, I'll be soloing. I'm soloing today.
00:32:54
Speaker
so Sorry, yes, Kickstarter. Did you do you want to kick that one off? Did you find anything interesting in Kickstarter? Game found? Whatever? Well, it's it's a game I've never played. I'm pretty sure you have. so um And that's Innis.
00:33:08
Speaker
i Yes. um They're doing a big box release. I think it's got about 10 days to go. And it looks really good. ah It's only $115. Yeah. yeah ah delivery in November.
00:33:21
Speaker
From what I understand of Inish, it's a game I'd probably really enjoy because it is a lot of take that in it, unless I'm wrong. Yeah, that there's a there's a bit. um Yes, there's definitely player your interaction for sure.
00:33:33
Speaker
Yeah. yeah I don't know whether I've got a skewed view of Inish because um ah the person who taught us did that thing where he didn't really teach us very well and then won the game quite quickly.
00:33:45
Speaker
um with an aggressive move and we're all just kind of like, well, that just kind of made the game. So we, for the for longest time, I've referred to the game as Binnish. um So not a fan.
00:33:58
Speaker
ah but But like I said, it that that that that particular person actually kind of killed a few games for me. So Binnish is just one of one of the many. So I don't know whether,
00:34:11
Speaker
um it would be different in a different gaming group. But ah one thing I despise is when someone is teaching you the game and deliberately leaves out important information and then uses that information to dominate and win the game, which is exactly what happened.
00:34:25
Speaker
yeah Mate, you've got to follow the Vassal rule there. Yeah. teacher never wins. No, he never. Yeah. Finish. Okay. All right. It actually looked really good.
00:34:38
Speaker
It does. It's it's even even the old version. It's got a really good table presence. The the tiles are really cool because they're not normal looking tiles. They kind of go together like a bit of a jigsaw piece, a jigsaw puzzle.
00:34:50
Speaker
there were There were elements of it that were cool. I just, I didn't, i feel like I didn't really even play the game. I just kind of sat there and watched someone do what they wanted to do. so when you have experience like that, it's hard to want to go back and get it to the table, I guess. Well, it's got minis in there. It's got, um, it looks like little mini buildings, uh, plastic buildings in there as well.
00:35:11
Speaker
Um, and I just, I thought, okay, this is going to be a couple hundred dollars. And when I looked at only 115 bucks and delivery in November, I thought, Oh, do I, do I not? So I've got 10 days to decide if I'm going to do it or not pull the pin, but it's um It's part of a trio of gangs.
00:35:29
Speaker
And they've just they're i'm I'm wondering whether they're going to do it again, but Cyclades just delivered, and it was the first one. So it's Cyclades, Inish, and Kemet. um So Cyclades just got its fancy version. Inish is getting its fancy version, but Kemet got its fancy version a couple of years ago. So I don't know whether they're going to do another one, but ah pat yeah those three are linked to in some way, shape or form. Got you.
00:35:52
Speaker
Okay. Kemet's definitely a lot of take that and that, from what I understand at that game. Yeah, it's ah you can't you can't just sit in the corner and hope to build up an engine. You've got to be ready to fight in round one.
00:36:04
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, good. All right, well, that gives me some time to think if I'm going to pull the pin, but the box looks really nice. The box art looks really good. i You know, it just...
00:36:17
Speaker
Made me think, all right, do I back something on Kickstarter? Because haven't backed something for a while. And then I saw the Maglev Metro Maps as well, which I think you've backed. 100%. Yep. The old Mr. Not backing anything for ages because of the tariffs. And I've backed, think I've backed three projects.
00:36:37
Speaker
Scary. um but Have you seen anything at all? ah So, i mean, look, I can be boring and say to the the age of Steam Maps.
00:36:48
Speaker
but You probably figured that one out based on the last couple of episodes. um I'm just actually going into my back projects because I did back, I backed a non-board gaming thing, um but I'm not going to mention it and only because I backed it as a birthday present for my wife. So I'm going to leave that one until after. good idea I'll mention that after her birthday, just in case on the off chat, she actually pays attention to this podcast, which she hasn't yet, but you never know. It'd be just like her to do it today for the first time.
00:37:20
Speaker
I'm just seeing whether there was anything else. As I mentioned last time, the Maglev Metro um thing. Oh, and Agricola's gone live. So the new Agricola.
00:37:31
Speaker
Yeah, was I was going to mention that. ah that i was i was I think I'm going to back it. It's not too bad value. You can go crazy with it. I was going say, what pledge are you going to look at? going mid-crazy. So I'm looking at the pledge that has the screen-printed wooden components. The wooden components. I'm not going to go with the miniatures and stuff.
00:37:55
Speaker
Yeah. um So that's that's I think I'm going to end up going down that road because – Awaken Realms is GameFound, so you're pretty confident that's going to fulfill. yeah yeah GameFound's going to go under before Awaken Realms does, so I wouldn't think that's going to happen.
00:38:12
Speaker
um But, yeah, that's that's pretty much it as far as um crowdfunding is concerned. I'm very keen for the Maglev maps. And also, so um i wasn't going to back the Age of Steam maps until I saw that one of the tracks was the moon.
00:38:29
Speaker
well I didn't even know there was an age of steam that was that on Kickstarter? ah Yes. I think it just ended. Actually, I think it ended today. I'm sure you've got it. I'm sure you've got get on the late pledge, but yeah, one of the, one of the maps is the moon and the moon is spherical. So you can actually build a train off one end and onto the other end.
00:38:48
Speaker
yeah Yeah. And I'm like, all right, I'm in for that. yeah that That is a good one. yeah I mean, I guess the Earth is very spherical too, but because you're doing the whole moon rather than just a country.
00:38:59
Speaker
Yeah. And it's just got some bizarre maps, like there's beer and pretzels and all this kind of random stuff. So I'm just umm i'm in for it. I've you know ah firmly yeah keep digging down that hole. So, yeah.
00:39:12
Speaker
Yeah. But how how ridiculous is that full-in, all-in pledge of Agricola?
00:39:19
Speaker
And I think it's the most popular of the pledge levels too. it's No way, is it? um I think it, because the one I was looking at isn't, I'm like, oh, okay, I just assumed it would be. want to see if I can bring it up. Where does it tell you that? Oh, because I've already pledged, I can't.
00:39:35
Speaker
Man, I've got it over.
00:39:39
Speaker
Oh, yeah, you're right. Four and a half thousand people have pledged for the wooden edition. Almost a thousand people have pledged. the one I'm looking at, and then...
00:39:52
Speaker
thousand for 824 Australian dollars. I don't understand. Cause it looks like you' getting two copies of the game. ah The master land place. Everything we offer on day one.
00:40:04
Speaker
Yeah. That's just seems insane. Cause they've got the special edition in there, like one, two, three times. So you're getting three copies? I'm confused.
00:40:16
Speaker
No. I just went, no. I saw that and went, no.
00:40:23
Speaker
ah That's all I've seen as well, mate. I haven't seen much else. I'm i'm definitely going to jump on the Age of Steam. Was there a new solo map in... Yeah, yeah. So I'll see if I can find the maps, but um there was... Okay, here we go. so portugal So Portugal, Madeira and the... Something I can't pronounce. Three to four players. That was done by Vitala Serta.
00:40:48
Speaker
Then got a Spain and Portugal map, three to six players. The Moon, which is three to four players. Greece, three to five. Montreal, three. Austria, two. DC Metro, one to three.
00:40:59
Speaker
And then the sixth one, you've got Warsaw, which is a one or three to four player game.
Dice Tower Awards Predictions
00:41:05
Speaker
There's a Belgium, Ireland, Sicily, Roundhouse, 1830s, Pennsylvania, and Atlantic City.
00:41:13
Speaker
And then the promo ones, oh no, not promo, sorry. um You've got Riversteen and Beer and Pretzels. ah the promo packs, that they're three to six players. So there's not a lot, to be honest. There's not there's only two that are soloable.
00:41:26
Speaker
um But there's there's enough there. And considering how much you see these four in the shops for sale, it's pretty good. It's like $49 US per expansion.
00:41:39
Speaker
So that's like $80. They're always over $100 when you see these shops. Yeah, when you're in the shops. Correct, you do. Very good. Very good. All right, shall we do it? Let's do it.
00:41:51
Speaker
Dice Tower Awards. I guess they're calling those 2024 Dice Tower Awards.
00:42:10
Speaker
guess they're calling those twenty twenty four dice tower awards I thought they changed to annuals, but it's the annual or the awards, want to look at. But either way, we're going to do a countdown. So let me just get rid of your beautiful face from my screen while I put my white spreadsheet all over it.
00:42:26
Speaker
i Okay. So how we going now? we've got ah We've got a few. We've got five in each category, Shane. So what do we do? Do we go back to our one we think we're going to win, the one we hope to win, are we going to do just pick one each and run with it?
00:42:39
Speaker
I think we just pick one each. Okay. we we yeah know And if I think we can agree on the same one as well. yeah So we're just we're just picking our favorites regardless of what the other one says. Yep.
00:42:50
Speaker
All right, let's go. All right, starting off with Best Welcoming Game. I've played three of these games. We've got Castle Combo, Cities, The Gang, Harmonies, and River City Glassworks.
00:43:02
Speaker
How many have you played? Two. Okay. I'll let you go first. What's your ah what's your pick? Castle of Combo Cities, The Gang, Harmonies, or River City Glassworks?
00:43:13
Speaker
I am going to go... River Valley Glassworks. Harmonies. Harmonies, yep. I think I'm going to go with... I'm towing between... I'd love The Gang to win, but I don't think it will.
00:43:25
Speaker
um I'm just going to go with what I think. I'm just going to go The Gang. umm I'm going to pick every category like I was choosing. ah would have thought you would have gone Castle Combo, because you've got that, don't you? I do have Castle Combo, and I...
00:43:37
Speaker
I quite like it. um I just love the game. So if I'm going to choose, if I'm going to pick a game, going a game that I, although then again, welcoming game. i don't know whether game is a welcoming game. Actually, yeah, you're I'm goingnna change undercastle combo.
00:43:51
Speaker
Because although the game can be a welcoming game for some people, I don't think it is for other people. No. I don't think welcoming is the right category. You need to know a little bit of poker.
00:44:03
Speaker
Yeah. All right, next one I've also played three games of. So we've got Captain Flip, Galileo Galilei, Slay the Spire, Unconscious Mind, and Wondrous Creatures. I've played two of those. And what's the top what's the topic of this one?
00:44:17
Speaker
Oh, best game from a small publisher. Oh, okay.
00:44:23
Speaker
I didn't mention Slay the Spire when we were talking about games we played recently, but Raph and I did play it. and That's how I said I was going to. and it's so good. It's so good, which is why I'm choosing it for best game for a small competition.
00:44:37
Speaker
and Well, it did well, didn't it? so
00:44:41
Speaker
No, I'm not going to choose the same, though. I think I'm going to go Captain Flip. Oh, hang on, no. you Hang on. um Unconscious Mind was in there, wasn't it? It was, yeah. Yeah, no, Unconscious Mind. I think it got the most nominations of any game in the Dice Star Awards. Yeah, yeah.
00:45:01
Speaker
Strategy game. Bomb Busters, Fromage, River of Gold, SETI, and Unconscious Mind. Again, I've played three of these. I've played one of them. Which one have you played? Oh, Unconscious Mind. Unconscious Mind. We played that together. Yeah, I've played Bomb Busters and Fromage as well.
00:45:17
Speaker
ah All right, you're up first, i think. yeah. I can't keep going unconscious mind, but... It's got to win one. It's got to win. oh You know what? I'm going to do it. Unconscious mind.
00:45:29
Speaker
Love it. um Surprisingly enough, it wasn't in the welcoming games. Who would have thought? ah Ooh, strategy game. I'm going to go, even though I haven't... No, I said I'm going to pick which which I would go for.
00:45:44
Speaker
So I'm going to go for fromage.
00:45:47
Speaker
Because although Bomb Busters is strategy, I don't think it's it's it's kind of like a party-ish game as well. Best two-player game. A Jester of Robin Hood, Agent Avenue, Kelp, Lord of the Rings, Jewel for Middle Earth, and Star Wars Unlimited.
00:46:00
Speaker
I've only played one of these. i ah Yeah, I've only played... I've now played two two of those. so But it's going to be a no-brainer, that one. I don't know.
00:46:11
Speaker
actually think it's between two. Which one are going? I'll go Lord of the Rings. Yeah, I'm going Lord of the Rings 2, but I would not be surprised if Star Wars Unlimited won it. Yeah. Look, that is good, but I think Lord of the Rings... I actually really... I'm really keen to play a Jester Robin Hood.
00:46:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Because it looks And Kelp. I think Kelp looks good too. Yeah, Kelp does look good. All right, right up your alley. This one, the Shane. Best solo game.
00:46:41
Speaker
Andromeda's Edge. Draft and Write Records. Kingdom Legacy. Primal The Awakening. or Unconscious Mind.
00:46:49
Speaker
I don't think Unconscious Mind is going to win the solo game. ah This is a tough one for me because I've only played two of these games and never played them solo. Yeah, I mean, Andromeda's Edge, solo, that'd be a monster. And so would Unconscious Mind, to be honest with you.
00:47:06
Speaker
What are the other three? Draft and Write Records, Kingdom Legacy, Feudal Kingdom, and Primal The Awakening. Oh, yeah.
00:47:17
Speaker
Let's go Primal the Awakening. I'm just having a pure stab in the dark there. Me too. that I'm going draft and um draft and write records. Primal.
00:47:29
Speaker
Cool, cool. Innovative. We have Bomb Busters, The Gang, Harrow County, Seti and Xylatar. I am going to put The Gang in there.
00:47:44
Speaker
Bomb Busters.
00:47:48
Speaker
Too easy. Co-op games. And look at this. Bomb Busters. The Gang. Same two the start. Leviathan Wilds. The Mandalorian Adventures. And Primal The Awakening.
00:48:01
Speaker
What's your co-op choice? ah Let's go The Gang. I'll split it now. yeah i I'm just going to go The Gang as well. Okay. Best Party Game.
00:48:14
Speaker
Caution Signs, Duck and Cover, Flip 7, Link City and Things in Rings. Flip 7.
00:48:21
Speaker
It's hard to deny it. Like, I do like Things in Rings, but I've played Flip 7 so much this year. So, got to give it to Flip 7. Best theming of a game.
00:48:32
Speaker
So this one, I've actually played three and I own a fourth one. haven't played it yet, so which is Endeavor Deep Sea. So Endeavor Deep Sea, let's go to Japan, Rock Hard 1977, SETI and Unconscious Mind.
00:48:47
Speaker
I am going to go Rock Hard 1977. That has to be the best theme. and Unconscious Mind second, but... I agree. And and Let's Go to Japan is fantastic too.
00:48:58
Speaker
But um I will also go Rock Hard because, well, I went Rock Hard in the other one and it didn't win, so I've got to back in for this one.
00:49:06
Speaker
Best game from a new designer. This is an interesting one. I, again, have played three. Seems to be the number. Flip 7, River of Gold, Rock Hard 1977, Seti and Slay the Spire.
00:49:21
Speaker
That's actually, that's going to be a hard one to choose. e As I said, the classic's harder to pick than a broken nose. Yeah.
00:49:30
Speaker
Let me say flip seven. All right. I am going to go with Slay the Spire. Best artwork.
00:49:41
Speaker
um Unconscious Mind. Okay. I won't even read the clip. ah For those playing at home, Explorers of Neforia, Harmonies, River of Gold, Rockart 1977, and Unconscious Mind.
00:49:54
Speaker
Again, I've played three of these, but I'll also go with Unconscious Mind. So we're doing a bit of doubling up here, but that's okay.
00:50:04
Speaker
Best reprint. Okay. I've only played one of these, so I know where my vote's going. So we've got Finka, Middle Ages, Rebel Princess Deluxe Edition, Skyrise, and Through the Desert.
00:50:15
Speaker
I have played none of them. And I don't know. it' so It's a pure stab in the dark. You go first, mate. Well, I didn't love it, but I've only played Skyrise, so I feel like I should vote for that, considering at least I have played it. like The other ones are just random, so...
00:50:31
Speaker
I just, yeah, I'm just going to stab in the dark through the desert. Thank you, Dirk. I wonder whether this is the first time in Dice Tower Awards history that Best Reprint didn't have um hey Restoration Games title.
00:50:49
Speaker
It'd have be close because that's kind of their their thing. It is their thing, yeah. All right, Best Board Game Production. So we have Andromeda's Edge, Fractured Sky, River of Gold, River Valley Glassworks, and Unconscious Mind.
00:51:07
Speaker
I'm going go Unconscious Mind. and I know which one you're going with. Yeah, Andromeda's Edge for sure for me. That is unbelievable. But I guess if you haven't played it, you wouldn't know. But we'll get there.
00:51:21
Speaker
We'll get there. Finally, the big one, Game of the Year. I've There's 10 nominees. I have, I'm going count. Ooh, I've played seven of the 10. How many of you play? Let's see.
00:51:34
Speaker
Andromeda's Edge, Bomb Busters, Fromage, Harmonies, Lord of the Rings Jewel for Middle Earth, River of Gold, River Valley Glassworks, Rock Hard 1977, SETI, and Unconscious Mind.
00:51:45
Speaker
I've played four. Four, okay. Oh, game of the year. This is a tough one. um I'll let you go first. Yeah. oh
00:52:01
Speaker
What were they again? Go again. that this and Andromeda's Edge, Bomb Busters, Fromage, Harmonies, Lord of the Rings Jewel for Middle Earth, River of Gold, River Valley Glassworks, Rock Hard 1977, SETI, and Unconscious Mind.
00:52:15
Speaker
I am going to say Harmonies.
00:52:19
Speaker
And I am going for a game that's in my top 10, so it has to win this category. And that's Andromeda's Edge.
00:52:28
Speaker
And that is it. There we go. so we'll check in in mid-July to see how we went on this one. so And I think, I could be wrong, but I think that'll be the last of the prediction episodes for a
Upcoming Gaming Plans
00:52:41
Speaker
while.
00:52:41
Speaker
Yeah, we'll have to you know come up with our plan for next episode. Original content. What what are you playing this week, mate? Anything? Yeah, a few things. So as I mentioned, I've got David and Suzanne coming around tomorrow and we're we're playing, like I love playing games with Manuel and Liliana and we play a lot of games together and it's great, but he's not that big into like Euro, dry Euros. He wants theme, he wants color.
00:53:07
Speaker
And as much as I love that, I also love a ah good dry Euro. So we're having a dry Euro day tomorrow. So I don't actually know what's hitting the table yet, but I'm very much looking forward to potentially getting a train game out for them.
00:53:21
Speaker
We'll see how that works. ah Otherwise, if Manuel does come around tomorrow, I dare say it'll be another game of Wonderland's Law. However, there is something bubbling in the background, which I'm very much looking forward to, which I haven't said about this game for a long time.
00:53:35
Speaker
But we are trying to coordinate, and it'll probably happen next weekend, a game of Scythe, where I'm teaching teaching Manuel, Liliana, David and Suzanne how to play, because they've not played before. So And it's been a long time since I've played Scythe personally, but also teaching new people Scythe is always a good time. Yeah. ah Good.
00:53:59
Speaker
Yes. Get the old classic back out. Very, very good. What about yourself? um Well, just a heap of solo games for me today. So Steam Power definitely is going to hit the table.
00:54:12
Speaker
And don't know. I might try and learn Wildlands solo as well. It's a bit of a Martin Wallace ga day. What a shocker. Yeah.
00:54:23
Speaker
And I'll unbox Witches. um But tomorrow, there's no games planned. I don't have any game days planned. um We've all got some commitments for next week. Actually for the next few weeks, we're not all getting back together for our Thursday night game night.
00:54:39
Speaker
and But when we do get back together, we have penciled in Great Western Trail, New Zealand. So I'll playing that few weeks' time. Yeah, I'm very to hear your opinion on that, especially you've played Railways of the North, because I've not played Railways the North, but I've been told that the thing like the most about New Zealand is kind of like a copy of that.
00:54:59
Speaker
So you should hear what you think after playing both. Yeah, brilliant. Well, mate, well, thank you. It's been a great little episode today. Appreciate Always a pleasure. And we will catch you on episode 13, hopefully in a week. Cheers.
00:55:13
Speaker
Take care, mate.