So Very Wrong About Games

Isolation gaming continues, so we turn our lonely eyes to gaming alone--an endeavour that predates plague-induced solitude, but is certainly thriving now. Many a gamer is experimenting with those (increasingly frequent) variants for the first time. We understand--any port in a storm. Let us game alone together. AYURIS: Coimbra 1m48s (Flaminia Brasini & Virginio Gigli, eggertspiele, 2018)Games Played Last Week:-Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North 3m32s (Joanna Kijanka & Ignacy Trzewiczek, Portal Games, 2019)-The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine 8m43s (Thomas Sing, KOSMOS, 2019) -The Fox in the Forest Duet 16m52s (Foxtrot Games, Foxtrot Games, 2020)-The Quiet Year 18m20s (Avery Alder, Buried Without Ceremony, 2013)-Radiant: Offline Battle Arena 22m57s (Jack Murray, Heel Turn Games, 2019) -Hansa Teutonica 24m23s (Andreas Steding, Argentum Verlag, 2009)-Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire 26m51s (David Sanders, Games Workshop, 2017)-The Quest for El Dorado: The Golden Temples 30m31s (Reiner Knizia, Raven

A little throwback for you, our dear and loyal listeners, a small taste of the pre-summer schedule splendour and abundance where we spoil you with both a topic and a feature game. It happened organically, you see, what with all the social distancing -mandated two-player gaming we've been doing. That, and we want to try to give you a little more in light of the world giving you a little less. Of course, if you want to hear less of us, you always have that power.Games Played Last Week:-Menara: Rituals and Ruins 2m59s (Oliver Richtberg, Zoch Verlag, 2019)-Sentinels of the Multiverse 5m39s (Christopher Badell, Paul Bender, & Adam Rebottaro, Greater Than Games, 2011)-ELO Darkness 22m11s (Tommaso Mondadori & Alberto Parisi, Reggie Games, 2018)-The Fox in the Forest Duet 8m59s (Foxtrot Games, Foxtrot Games, 2020)-Pax Renaissance 13m24s (Phil Eklund & Matt Eklund, Sierra Madre Games, 2016)-Mezo: Souls for Xibalba 17m09s (John Clowdus, Kolossal, 2019)Mini-Spotlight: MOBA-Style Boardgames 19m36s-Rum &am

Ripped from the headlines, as Dick Wolf is wont to say, we present to you the most timely of discussions. Of course, Walker takes us down theoretical tangents once again, whereas Mark rolls his eyes and tried to keep things on track--the standard roles that our hosts always seem to fall into. In Walker's defense, the Kool-Aid Man is a pressing philosophical issue. Fortunately, boardgaming has resolved the thorny matter of his (its?) identity; with such a success, surely Fermat's Last Theorem could have been resolved by boardgames had that nerd Wiles not solved it first. Nerd.AYURIS: Claustrophobia 1m54s (CROC, Asmodee, 2009)Games Played Last Week:-Jetpack Joyride 6m07s (Michał Gołębiowski, Lucky Duck Games, 2019)-Horizon Wars: Zero Dark 9m40s (Robey Jenkins, Self-published, 2020)-Dragon Master: BGG Convention Promo 14m58s (Reiner Knizia, Victory Point Games, 2015)-Hellboy: The Board Game 18m58s (James M. Hewitt & Sophie Williams, Mantic Games, 2019)-ELO Darkness 22m11s (Tommaso Mondadori & Alb

All of your burning questions shall be addressed! Why is there something rather than nothing? Quid est veritas? War, huh! What is it good for? Why do birds suddenly appear every time a Knizia game is near? Rest assured that the topics covered are vast--Macross, objectivism, fictional Thai kick boxers, and so much more. Featuring special guests Dan Thurot (spacebiff.com), Charlie Theel (playerelimination.com), and Kellen and Mark from Board Game Barrage (boardgamebarrage.com).AYURIS: Discover: Lands Unknown 2m33s (Corey Konieczka, Fantasy Flight, 2018)Games Played Last Week:-Blitzkrieg! 4m27s (Paolo Mori, PSC Games, 2019)-Horizon Wars: Zero Dark 6m56s (Robey Jenkins, Self-published, 2020)-The Fox in the Forest Duet 10m35s (Foxtrot Games, Renegade Game Studios, 2020)-Mezo 12m22s (John Clowdus, Kolossal Games, 2019) -Mega Civilization 17m40s (Flo de Haan, John Rodriguez, & Francis Tresham, 999 Games, 2015)-Battle for Biternia 24m31s (Chris Faulkenberry, Stone Circle Games, 2018)-Piratenbillard 28m33s (Reinh

Warning: there is some implied discussion of the existence of the health care field in this week's review. No jokes were made about current viral events, though, and given the general low-brow nature of this podcast that's a minor miracle. The only jokes about current affairs are related to hip hop, and even those references are dated to over twenty years ago. Games Played Last Week:-Street Masters: Aftershock 2m47s (Adam Sadler & Brady Sadler, Blacklist Games, 2019)-Stephenson's Rocket 4m55s (Reiner Knizia, Pegasus Spiele, 1999)-Lorenzo il Magnifico 9m19s (Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, & Simone Luciani, Cranio Creations, 2016)-Mardi Gras Madness 12m50s (Mark Burlet, Arthur Franz IV, & Ben Jennings, Uplink Underground Games, 2020)-Horizon Wars: Zero Dark 18m25s (Robey Jenkins, Self-published, 2020)News (and why it doesn't matter):-Walker Watches Steamwatchers 21m52s-Ginkgopolis Reprint 23m53s-Clean Queen Kickstarter? 24m48s-Coronavirus Cancellations: CMON Expo 26m46s-Uwe Rosenb

Some of you might be unfamiliar with the traditions surrounding birthdays in Canada. They are savage affairs, drenched in blood and feats of suffering. I mean, there's the cake, sure, and that part is pretty benign--except for the baking of it, come to think of it, where the birthday girl or birthday boy is expected to remove the cake from an oven with their bare hands and devour the thing whole; then comes the declaration of threats, where the horribly burned, frosting-seared celebrant mounts a nearby table and screams doom to their enemies. Let's not get started on what kind of gifts are considered appropriate. AYURIS: Stephenson's Rocket 1m36s (Reiner Knizia, Grail Games, 2018)Games Played Last Week:-Empyreal: Spells & Steam 3m44s (Trey Chambers, Level 99 Games, 2020)-Egizia: Shifting Sands 11m05s (Acchittocca, Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, Stefano Luperto, & Antonio Tinto, Stronghold Games, 2019)-Root: The Underworld Expansion 13m39s (Patrick Leder & Cole Wehrle, Leder Games, 2

Would you like a job at Asmodee? Well guess what, if you need any replacement parts from them, you've just been drafted to work as their support staff. Best of all, your salary is nothing! Are we doomed to become ever more curmudgeonly, rambling to young gamers about how "back in my day, we got replacement parts just by sending an email" and the the young 'uns would be all like "Ok, Millennial, but what's an email?"Games Played Last Week:-Quartermaster General WW2 2m25s (Ian Brody, Ares Games, 2019)-Mars Open: Tabletop Golf 5m19s (Dennis Hoyle, Bellwether Games, 2018)-Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North 7m53ss (Joanna Kijanka & Ignacy Trzewiczek, Portal Games, 2019)-Blitzkrieg! 10m57s (Paolo Mori, PSC Games, 2019)-SEAL Team Flix 15m47s (Pete Ruth & Mark Thomas, WizKids, 2018)-Empyreal: Spells & Steam 17m50s (Trey Chambers, Level 99 Games, 2020)News (and why it doesn't matter):-Secret Operation: Social Deduction Robots 24m10s-Asmodee's Parts Replacement Polic

On must acknowledge that in many instances, pre-judgment is an adaptive advantage--I don't mean with respect to people, but in terms of being able to sift through the endless data with which we are constantly bombarded. Most of our concepts are pre-fabricated little categories that we can shove sense data into in order to make sense of the world (there's your Kantianism in three seconds for you). In boardgaming, were seventeen releases hit the market while I was typing this sentence, it can be handy to use heuristics or prejudice--I won't play games by designer or publisher X, for example. Then again, it is our thankless task to submerge ourselves wholesale into the hobby's output without fear or favour, and so we must try to overcome such self-imposed limits when we can.AYURIS: Battle for Rokugan 2m07s (Molly Glover & Tom Jolly, Fantasy Flight, 2017)Games Played Last Week:-Troyes 4m11s (Sébastien Dujardin, Xavier Georges, & Alain Orban, Pearl Games, 2010)-Hanabi 9m40s (Antoine Bauza,

One must learn as a child that just because something is difficult does not mean it isn't worth doing. Sometimes we here at SVWAG feel that the corollary for adults is that just because something is difficult doesn't mean it is worthwhile. Some hard things should just be avoided. It's hard to drive a nail through your own skull, but it doesn't follow that it's necessarily a prime opportunity for self-improvement that ought to be pursued. Unrelatedly, Vital Lacerda games.Games Played Last Week:-Street Masters: Aftershock 2m32s (Adam Sadler & Brady Sadler, Blacklist Games, 2019)-Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King 6m11s (Andreas Pelikan & Alexander Pfister, Lookout Games, 2015)-The Resistance 7m40s (Don Eskridge, Indie Boards & Cards, 2009)-Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire 10m25s (David Sanders, Games Workshop, 2017)-Food Chain Magnate: The Ketchup Mechanism & Other Ideas 13m49s (Jeroen Doumen & Joris Wiersinga, Splotter, 2019)-Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North 21

My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious.AYURIS: Level 7 [Omega Protocol] 2m34s (Will Schoonover, Privateer Press, 2013)Games Played Last Week:-Guards of Atlantis II: Tabletop MOBA 6m38s (Artyom Nichipurov, Wolff Designaa, 2020)-Las Vegas Royale 11m13s (Rudiger Dorn, alea, 2019)-Tiny Epic Tactics 12m59s (Scott Almes, Gamelyn, 2019)-In the Hall of the Mountain King 16m20s (Jay Cormier & Graeme Jahns, Burnt Island Games, 2019)-Die Macher 21m06s (Karl-Heinz Schmiel, Spielworxx, 2019)News (and why it doesn't matter):-More toys for Era: Medieval Age 26m58s-Kickstarter Police: Wherefore art thou? 27m56s-Banning Golden Bell, that's where 29m39sTopic: Virtues of Popularity 31m33sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Rarely has a game been as deeply, frighteningly cynical as Imperial. We are sadly inured to the notion of vast military conflicts; and we are sadly inured to the corrupting influence of enormous wealth; but never before has a game combined the two and posited the Schlieffen Plan as a gambit to improve the marginal rate of return of someone's portfolio. Oh, my RRSP is Russian firepower, by the way.Games Played Last Week:-Papillon 1m42s (J.B. Howell, Kolossal, 2019)-Talon 3m47s (Jim Krohn, GMT Games, 2016)-On Mars 7m20s (Vital Lacerda, Eagle-Gryphon, 2020)-Deception: Murder in Hong Kong 10m34s (Tobey Ho, Grey Fox Games, 2014)-Principle Dilemma 12m37s (Joe Tanowski, Self-published, 2019)-Las Vegas Royale 21m14s (Rudiger Dorn, alea, 2019)-Sushi Roll 23m22s (Phil Walker-Harding, Gamewright, 2019)-Cthulhu: Death May Die 25m43s (Rob Daviau & Eric M. Lang, CMON, 2019)News (and why it doesn't matter):-Wiz-Kids' Clash of Cultures 28m23s-Grimslingers Two 30m14s-Marvel United 31m39s -Hansa Teutonica Big B

Eventually a charge becomes so tired and rote that it becomes accepted without critical thought--but so often these hackneyed claims are false. Knizia games are themeless is a good example. Canadians are polite is another. The one that rears its ugly head this week is Walker's insistence that he is bullied, which has definitely got to count as attempted gaslighting at this point. On the plus side, a New Year's resolution is made and then immediately fulfilled in the same episode! That is efficiency.AYURIS: Gaslands 5m23s (Glenn Ford & Mike Hutchinson, Osprey Publishing, 2017) Games Played Last Week:-Blue Moon 8m32s (Reiner Knizia, KOSMOS, 2004)-Barrage 11m08s (Tommaso Battista & Simone Luciani, Cranio Creations, 2019)-Corporate America 14m54s (Teale Fristoe, Nothing Sacred Games, 2013)-Papillon 16m34s (J.B. Howell, Kolossal, 2019)-Secret Hitler 20m53s (Mike Boxleiter, Tommy Maranges, & Max Temkin, Goat Wolf & Cabbage, 2016)-Reavers of Midgard 22m40s (J.B. Howell, Grey Fox Games, 2019)-

Better late and wrong than never wrong, am I right? Wait, that doesn't make sense. Suffice to say that we wanted to be as certain as we could this year, as past years offered rather significant asterisks on our best-of lists--but this year, with only minor exceptions, we're pretty confident we played the games most likely to make the cut. I'm sure this sense of certainty and comprehensiveness will last perhaps as long as late January.Games Played Last Week:-Blood Rage 2m09s (Eric Lang, CMON, 2015)-It's a Wonderful World 4m40s (Frédéric Guérard, La Boîte de Jeu, 2019)-Battle for Biternia 8m03s (Chris Faulkenberry, Stone Circle Games, 2018)-Istanbul 12m58s (Rudiger Dorn, Pegasus Spiele, 2014)-Marvel Champions: The Card Game 15m30s (Michael Boggs, Nate French, & Caleb Grace, FFG, 2019)-Codenames: The Simpsons 16m06s (Vlaada Chvatil, CGE, 2019)News (and why it doesn't matter):-Kemet 2.0: Blood and Sand Updates 19m01s-Mixlore and Prospero Hall 20m13s-Cosmic Encounter Two-Player? 21m01s-FFG&

We're using "culture" pretty broadly, here--the SVWAG staff anthropologist is out with the flu, so there's only so much we can do. We're ready to accept some degree of cultural variance, but we don't endorse cultural relativism as a moral theory; our staff ethicist is still very much at his post. That said, social gatherings are most definitely susceptible to cultural standards than moral precepts are, and we are ever in thrall to one of SVWAG's primordial maxims: "Read the room." AYURIS: BattleCON 2m00s (Brad D. Talton, Level 99 Games, 2010) Games Played Last Week:-Flotilla 4m35s (J.B. Howell & Michael Mihealsick, WizKids, 2019)-Marvel Champions: The Card Game 13m43s (Michael Boggs, Nate French, & Caleb Grace, FFG, 2019)-It's a Wonderful World 16m16s (Frédéric Guérard, La Boîte de Jeu, 2019)-The Menace Among Us 18m31s (Jeff Gum, Smirk & Dagger, 2019)-A Feast for Odin: The Norwegians 23m23s (Gernot Köpke & Uwe Rosenberg, Feuerland Spiele, 2018)-Godtear

Look, it's hard enough to remember games without them injecting too many dates into their titles. Claustrophobia 1643 I keep misremembering as 1648 (Treaty of Westphalia), Ausburg 15whenever is as forgettable as the game, Pulsar 2849 barely sticks in my mind, and now Caylus 1303. I'd be tempted to just try and parse the game as "Caylus 13XX," but it's not about trains, now, is it? Games Played Last Week:-Karate Tomate 3m01s (Reiner Knizia, AMIGO, 2018)-Telestrations: 12 Player Party Pack 5m10s (Uncredited, USAopoly, 2011)-The Shipwreck Arcana 6m59s (Kevin Bishop, Meromorph Games, 2017)-Yellow & Yangtze 9m22s (Reiner Knizia, Grail Games, 2018)-Marvel Champions: The Card Game 10m05s (Michael Boggs, Nate French, & Caleb Grace, FFG, 2019)-Maracaibo 14m42s (Alexander Pfister, Capstone Games, 2019)-Aristocracy 21m09s (Reiner Knizia, Tasty Minstrel Games, 2019)-Flotilla 23m24s (J.B. Howell & Michael Mihealsick, WizKids, 2019)-Era: Medieval Age 24m46s (Matt Leacock, eggertspiele, 2019)

The Holidays are upon us--Christmas very soon, Hanukkah is ongoing, Kwanzaa around the corner--but today on SVWAG, as it is on most days, we celebrate Festivus. On Mark's insistence, we forego the Feats of Strength, as the outcome would be certain and humiliating; O, but the Airing of the Grievances! Canadians have much to complain about, what with one mess of a fulfillment after another. And complain we do.AYURIS: Too Many Bones: Undertow 3m15s (Adam Carlson & Josh J. Carlson, Chip Theory Games, 2018)Games Played Last Week:-Mechanica 6m37s (Mary Flanagan, Emma Hobday, & Max Seidman, Resonym, 2019)-One Deck Galaxy 11m25s (Chris Cieslik, Asmadi Games, 2020)-It's a Wonderful World 13m02s (Frédéric Guérard, La Boîte de Jeu, 2019)-Yggdrasil Chronicles 17m35s (Cédric Lefebvre, Ludonaute, 2019)-Yokohama 21m09s (Hisashi Hayashi, Tasty Minstrel Games, 2016)-Cthulhu: Death May Die 21m56s (Eric M. Lang & Rob Daviau, CMON, 2019)-Res Arcana: Lux et Tenebrae 26m25s (Thomas Lehmann, Sand Castle Games, 2

Perhaps it would be inevitable that there would be juvenile comments about the components in Catan: Starfarers. This is, after all, the gaming series that brought us endless unfunny remarks about wood and sheep. Perhaps the sculptors for the pieces knew what they were doing and, in turn, laughing at us. I suppose we must be thankful that Klaus Teuber remained high-minded--one shudders to imagine what the satirical outlook of, say, Vlaada Chvatil would have done with the same material.Games Played Last Week: -Street Masters: Aftershock 2m18s (Adam & Brady Sadler, Blacklist Games, 2019)-Big City: 20th Anniversary Jumbo Edition! 4m51s (Franz-Benno Delonge, Mercury Games, 2019)-Wavelength 7m46s (Alex Hague, Justin Vickers, & Wolfgang Warsch, Palm Court, 2019)-Warfighter: The Private Military Contractor Card Game 10m32s (Dan Verssen, DVG Games, 2019)-The Shipwreck Arcana 15m42s (Kevin Bishop, Meromorph Games, 2017)-Yggdrasil Chronicles 17m26s (Cédric Lefebvre, Ludonaute, 2019)News (and why it doesn't m

There are times when immediately upon finishing recording, one or both of our hosts immediately feel the tremendous regret of having forgotten The Thing. But, alas, the moment has passed, and they cannot now mention The Thing. The only redress available is this episode description, which sadly no one but you reads. We salute you, hyper-literate outlier!This week, The Thing is Wavelength--recently-released masterful filler and wonderful fodder for holiday gaming in mixed circles. Rest assured the host feel pretty stupid most of the time, but doubly stupid for neglecting to mention Wavelength.AYURIS: Sentinels of the Multiverse 1m45s (Christopher Badell, Paul Bender, & Adam Rebottaro, Greater Than Games, 2011)Games Played Last Week: -Amun-Re the Card Game 4m47s (Reiner Knizia, Super Meeple, 2016)-The King's Dilemma 7m41s (Hjalmar Hach & Lorenzo Silva, Horrible Guild, 2019)-Pandemic: Rapid Response 16m32s (Kane Klenko, Z-Man, 2019)-Yokohamma 18m10s (Hisashi Hayashi, Tasty Minstrel Games, 2016)-Street

Black Secret was an expansion to Ghost Stories where you played as vicious, frenetic shoppers trying to ascertain what were the best hidden deals on Black Friday. I think. If nothing else, one can appreciate the fact that online shopping might one day prevent the trampling deaths that accompany this uniquely retail "holiday." The end of brick and mortar retail will surely be a great loss, and one that hurts our hobby a great deal, but come on--that inevitable b-roll of crazed bargain hunters year after year is a psychically damaging indictment of our culture.Games Played Last Week: -Marco Polo II: In the Service of the Khan 2m27s (Simone Luciani & Daniele Tascini, Hans im Gluck, 2019)-Catan: Starfarers 7m39s (Klaus Teuber, KOSMOS, 2019)-Neuroshima Hex! 3.0 11m39s (Michal Oracz, Portal Games, 2006)-Caylus Magna Carta 14m59s (William Attia, Ystari Games, 2007)-Vindication 20m56s (Marc Neidlinger, Orange Nebula, 2018)News (and why it doesn't matter):-Ticket to Ride with Alexa 22m23s-So Much Sakur

Walker introduces a new feature, the LIGHTNING ROUND. Destinies are determined and legends are forged in the lightning round, or at least they could be if it were not merely the pretext for his trolling. Someone should translate "I'm not saying, I'm just saying" into Latin so he can make it his family credo. AYURIS: The Voyages of Marco Polo 2m00s (Simone Luciani & Daniele Tascini, Hans im Gluck, 2015)Games Played Last Week: -The Menace Among Us 5m06s (Jeff Gum, Smirk & Dagger, 2019)-Wayfinders 9m18s (Thomas Dagenais-Lespérance, Pandasaurus Games, 2019)-Paranormal Detectives 12m41s (Szymon Maliński, Adrian Orzechowski, & Marcin Łączyński, Lucky Duck Games, 2019)-Barenpark: The Bad News Bears 17m44s (Phil Walker-Harding, Lookout Games, 2019)-Modern Art 19m54s (Reiner Knizia, Hans im Gluck, 1992)-Gaia Project 21m41s (Jens Drögemüller & Helge Ostertag, Feuerland Spiele, 2017)-Wavelength 25m13s (Alex Hague, Justin Vickers, & Wolfgang Warsch, Palm Court, 2019)-Babylonia 29m56s (