So Very Wrong About Games

It is said that both politics and religion are not good conversational fodder among people you don't know well (and perhaps not even for people with whom you are close), but sadly those are among Mark's favourite topics. The sun having been devoured may cause the astronomers to be delighted, but Mark knows a portent when he sees one, and he is confident some kind of sacrifice to appease violent spirits is in order. Walker escalates things by invoking the divine right of kings, the intersection of religion and politics, but then again escalation is Walker's default instinct. Further proof of Fenrir's influence, no doubt!01:44 AYURIS: Space Station Phoenix (Gabriel J. Cohn, Rio Grande Games, 2022)Games Played Last Week:03:54 -Black Rose Wars: Rebirth (Andrea Colletti, Diego Fonseca, and Marco Montanaro, Ludus Magnus Studio, 2024)11:15 -G.I. JOE Deck-Building Game: Raise the Flagg Campaign Expansion (T.C. Petty III, Renegade Game Studios, 2023)12:34 -Hissy Fit (Levi Robertson and Chris Stone, Sto

I never really understood the term "undead." I mean, it's a binary, right? If it's not dead it must be alive, at least in the context of things that could or were once alive. The negation never seemed to be doing enough work to imply what it was intended to imply. That is, until Walker and Mark got sick. They're not dead, but going straight to "alive" seems a rather hopeful exaggeration. Undead seems appropriate for now.01:47 AYURIS: Carnegie (Xavier Georges, Quined Games, 2022)Games Played Last Week:03:48 -Legacy of Yu (Shem Phillips, Garphill Games, 2023) 07:30 -Set a Watch (Mike Gnade and Todd Walsh, Rock Manor Games, 2019)09:12 -Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs (Joe Klipfel and Nikki Valens, Cephalofair Games, 2024)15:03 -Stonespine Architects (Jordy Adan, Thunderworks Games, 2024)17:23 -Marshmallow Test (Reiner Knizia, Gamewright, 2020)19:21 -Black Rose Wars: Rebirth (Andrea Colletti, Diego Fonseca, and Marco Montanaro, Ludus Magnus Studio, 2024)21:47 -Almost Innocent (Philippe

We haul ourselves off of our deathbeds to deliver this episode unto you. Prospects for our recovery seem dim, but we would sooner die than deprive you of that which is most sacred--namely content. Of course, illness may yet claim us, but we are far too stoic and noble to complain.01:49 AYURIS: Stroganov (Andreas Steding, Game Brewer, 2021)Games Played Last Week:04:46 -Hissy Fit (Levi Robertson and Chris Stone, Stone Age Distractions, 2023)06:53 -Finished! (Friedemann Friese, 2F-Spiele, 2017)12:01 -City of the Living (Sebastian Bleasdale and Reiner Knizia, Trick or Treat Studios, 2024)15:07 -Legacy of Yu (Shem Phillips, Garphill Games, 2023) 20:27 -Bus (Jeroen Doumen and Joris Wiersinga, Capstone Games, 2019)24:51 -Battlecrest: Metronn Base Game (Dustin Dobson & Milan Zivkovic, Button Shy, 2024)28:59 -G.I. JOE Deck-Building Game: Raise the Flagg Campaign Expansion (T.C. Petty III, Renegade Game Studios, 2023)31:25 -Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs (Joe Klipfel and Nikki Valens, Cephalofair Games, 2024)Our Sp

We present to you a specially chemically-enhanced episode. Walker has been doping specifically in preparation, eschewing any sustenance other than military-grade lozenges. Mark will be performing his hosting duties while fully immersed in a tank of benzocaine oral painkiller. It is a good thing that the International Olympic Committee has no sway here in SVWAG studios, or we would likely get disqualified for the podcast luge event.Games Played Last Week:01:30 -Raising Robots (Brett Sobol & Seth Van Orden, Nauvoo Games, 2023)08:26 -Omen: Banks of the Styx (John Clowdus, Small Box Games, 2024)11:40 -Set a Watch (Mike Gnade and Todd Walsh, Rock Manor Games, 2019)13:47 -Cryo (Tom Jolly & Luke Laurie, Z-Man Games, 2021)17:33 -Formula D (Laurent Lavaur & Eric Randall, Asmodee, 2008)18:39 -Riftforce (Carlo Bortolini, 1 More Time Games, 2021)22:36 -Piazza Rabazza (Guido Hoffman and Jens-Peter Schliemann, Zoch Verlag, 2022)News (and why it doesn't matter):25:37 RoboRally Transformers: can Autobots get

For reasons both personal and highly arbitrary, the SVWAG style guide (authored by gibbons, of course) does not countenance using the word "teach" as a noun, with the possible exception as a casual nickname for a teacher. Thus a game does not, in our parlance, have a "teach" except insofar as you call the person explaining the rules to you "teach". As in, "yo, teach, thanks for doing this thankless job, you make our hobby possible, I'm certainly not going to give you a hard time for any minor rules errors or didactic missteps, lemme buy you a pizza, teach, you incredibly physically attractive hero." 01:25 AYURIS: Sakura Arms (BakaFire, Level 99 Games 2022)Games Played Last Week:04:04 -La Granja: Deluxe Master Set (Michael Keller and Andreas "ode." Odendahl, Board&Dice, 2023)10:19 -Unchained (David Gregg, Trick or Treat Studios, 2024)18:04 -Paku Paku (Antoine Bauza, Ravensburger, 2017)21:34 -Turbo Kidz (Emmanuel Gauvain, Scorpion Masqué, 2023)23:46 -Nine Tiles Pa

Before shouting about toys professionally, Mark taught ethics at a health sciences university. He discussed matters of life and death, of cutting edge controversial technologies, of war and politics, and matters of fundamental rights and duties. He has learned two lessons from those experiences: never ever talk about animal rights with a pit bull owner, and his views on Mass Effect are vastly more controversial than any of his other views. In this episode, he is at least smart enough to stay silent about dogs.Games Played Last Week:01:54 -Street Masters (Adam Sadler & Brady Sadler, Blacklist Games, 2018)07:45 -The Barracks Emperors (Wray Ferrell and Brad Johnson, GMT Games, 2023)15:08 -Dune: Imperium--Uprising (Paul Dennen, Dire Wolf, 2023)17:58 -Tank Duel: Enemy in the Crosshairs (Mike Bertucelli, GMT Games, 2019)28:09 -Lunar Rush (Steven "Skippy" Brown, Dead Alive Games, 2023)32:27 -Regicide (Paul Abrahams, Luke Badger, & Andy Richdale, Badgers from Mars, 2020)News (and why it doesn't ma

Walker was all like "there's this card effect in Successors" and Mark was all like "nuh-uh" but Walker was like "yeah, fer sure" and Mark goes "no way" and Walker says "way" and that's a 100% accurate transcript.01:53 AYURIS: Dice Realms (Thomas Lehmann, Rio Grande Games, 2022)Games Played Last Week:04:07 -Lorenzo il Magnifico (Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, and Simone Luciani, Cranio Creations, 2016)10:55 -Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Leicester (Changhyun Baek, Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, Stefano Luperto, and Antonio Tinto, DiceTree Games, 2023)17:00 -Darwin’s Journey (Simone Luciani and Nestore Mangone, ThunderGryph Games, 2023)21:23 -The North: Provenance (John Clowdus, Small Box Games, 2020)27:03 -Sail (Akiyama Koryu & Korzu Yusei, Allplay, 2023)28:18 -MLEM: Space Agency (Reiner Knizia, Rebel Studio, 2024)31:15 -My Island (Reiner Knizia, KOSMOS, 2023)36:48 -Successors 4th Edition (Richard H. Berg and Mark Simonitch, PHALANX, 2022)News (and why

The theory of the atom first posited by the pre-Socratic philosopher Democritus in roughly the 4th Century BCE. None of his actual writings have survived. The great thing about the pre-Socratics is that so few of their works are available, you can spend about ten minutes (or less!) and have read as much of their stuff as have the world's leading experts. Games Played Last Week:01:53 -Kingdom Rush: Elemental Uprising (Alara Cameron, Helana Hope, and Sen-Foong Lim, Lucky Duck Games, 2023)04:15 -Assault on Doomrock: Ultimate Edition (Tom Stasiak, Beautiful Disaster Games, 2023)06:43 -Caverna: The Cave Farmers (Uwe Rosenberg, Lookout Games, 2013)07:22 -Hidden Leaders (Andreas Müller, Markus Müller, & Raphael Stocker, BFF Games, 2022)08:28 -AQUA: Biodiversity in the Oceans (Dan Halstad and Tristan Halstad, Sidekick Games, 2024)13:05 -Project: ELITE (Konstantinos Kokkinis, Marco Portugal, & Sotirios Tsantilas, CMON, 2020)16:54 -Lacuna (Mark Gerrits, CMYK, 2023)19:33 -5 Towers (Kasper Lapp, Deep Print Ga

Every man wants to be a macho, macho manTo have the kind of body always in demandJogging in the mornings, go man goWork outs in the health spa, muscles glowYou can best believe that he's a macho manReady to get down with, anyone he canYou can tell a macho, he has a funky walkHis western shirts and leather, always look so bossFunky with his body, he's a kingCall him Mister Ego, dig his chainsYou can best believe that he's a macho manHe likes to be the leader, he never dresses grand-"Macho Man" by The Village People03:05 AYURIS: Guards of Atlantis II (Artyom Nichipurov, Wolff Designa, 2022)Games Played Last Week:05:06 -AQUA : Biodiversity in the Oceans (Dan Halstad and Tristan Halstad, Sidekick Games, 2024)08:05 -Bloodstones (Martin Wallace, Wallace Designs, 2023)09:36 -Kingdom Rush: Elemental Uprising (Alara Cameron, Helana Hope, and Sen-Foong Lim, Lucky Duck Games, 2023)10:45 -Imperium: Horizons (Nigel Buckle and Dávid Turczi, Osprey Games, 2024)15:48 -Tokyo Highway: Rainbow City (Naotaka

Let us, following in Andy Schwarz's example, highlight the fine work of Nancy Skinner, a California state senator whose "Fair Pay to Play Act" granted college athletes in California the right to profit from their name, image, and likeness. This forced the NCAA to allow such changes more broadly.It hasn't been perfect, but let's acknowledge one thing: if someone's gonna be making millions off your name and face, maybe--just maybe!--you should be able to get a cut. Games Played Last Week:01:43 -AQUA : Biodiversity in the Oceans (Dan Halstad and Tristan Halstad, Sidekick Games, 2024)06:24 -Imperium: Horizons (Nigel Buckle and Dávid Turczi, Osprey Games, 2024)13:40 -World Wonders (Zé Mendes, Arcane Wonders, 2023)19:33 -MLEM: Space Agency (Reiner Knizia, Rebel Studio, 2024)24:14 -Maskmen (Jun Sasaki and Taiki Shinzawa, Oink Games, 2014)28:27 -The Barracks Emperors (Wray Ferrell and Brad Johnson, GMT Games, 2023)32:17 -Tokyo Highway: Rainbow City (Naotaka Shimamoto and Yoshiaki Tomioka, itte

It has been many a year since our early days, our salad days when we were younger and dumb and didn't know what we were doing. Much has changed, in that we are now older and dumb and don't know what we're doing. But the inexorable march of time has at least offered many new offerings in the broad tent of dexterity games, and so it is past time that we focus on one of our preferred genus of toy.01:26 AYURIS: Golem (Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, & Simone Luciani, Cranio Creations, 2021)Games Played Last Week:04:19 -Anachrony (Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2017)11:11 -Welcome to the Moon (Alexis Allard & Benoit Turpin, Blue Cocker Games, 2021)15:44 -General Orders: World War II (Trevor Benjamin and David Thompson, Osprey Games, 2023)22:16 -Sail (Akiyama Koryu & Korzu Yusei, Allplay, 2023)25:25 -Burned (Jon Moffat, Stone Circle Games, Unpublished)28:39 -My Island (Reiner Knizia, KOSMOS, 2023)34:50 -Bloodstones (Martin Wallace, Wallace Designs, 2023)News (and why it doesn't matter)

A pretty solid rule of thumb is that if you've been disappointed in a kind of game, try David Thompson's version of it and see how delightful it can be. Hidden movement got you down? Sniper Elite is the cure. Abstract chunky tiled fighty thing didn't please? War Chest might please. Mediocre skirmish cramping your style? For What Remains is ready to serve. It's a good thing he has styles of games he hasn't explored, lest he just obsolete the remainder of the games industry. Give him time. He'll collaborate with everyone eventually.Games Played Last Week:01:41 -Beast (Aron Midhall, Elon Midhall, and Assar Pettersson, Studio Midhall, 2022)07:17 -Iberia (Jesús Torres Castro and Matt Leacock, Z-Man Games, 2016)11:42 -Sankoré: The Pride of Mansa Musa (Mandela Fernandez-Grandon and Fabio Lopiano, Osprey Games, 2024)18:16 -Bitoku: Resutoran (Germán P. Millán, Devir, 2023)23:00 -Kurz vor Knapp (Helmut Punke and Tobias Punke, Zoch Verlag, 2020)28:06 -Animal Upon Animal (Klaus Miltenberger, HABA,

As ever, and with no clue what a lang syne is (much less an auld-y type configuration), we embrace the new year by commemorating the old. We would venture that the new year only truly begins once SVWAG has given its imprimatur on the best game published in the preceding year. The Julian Calendar was abandoned in favour of the Gregorian, and it is evident that the Gregorian should be abandoned in favour of the SVWAGgering Calendar. Games Played Last Week:01:34 -Kutná Hora: The City of Silver (Ondřej Bystroň, Petr Čáslava, and Pavel Jarosch, Czech Games Edition, 2023)06:53 -Voidfall (Nigel Buckle & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2023)07:57 -K2 (Adam Kałuża, Rebel Sp. z o.o., 2010)09:35 -Cover Your Assets (Brent Beck & Jeffrey Beck, Grandpa Beck's Games, 2011)11:52 -Assault on Doomrock: Ultimate Edition (Tom Stasiak, Beautiful Disaster Games, 2023)16:53 -Road Trippin (Uncredited, Guilt Free Gaming, 2021)19:42 -Evacuation (Vladimír Suchý, Delicious Games, 2023)28:05 -Solar Titans (Phillip Gee and Xian

Heraclitus, an ancient Greek philosopher, claimed that you never step in the same river twice; for it is not the same river and you are not the same person. Such as it is with games! They are reprinted and thus reborn, all along some blurred spectrum of redesign spanning from carbon copy all the way to entirely new design.Let us not forget Heraclitus' student Cratylus, who evidently thought Heraclitus some kind of squish, insofar as he is credited with countering that you cannot step into the same river once.01:25 AYURIS: Perseverance: Castaway Chronicles Episodes 1 & 2 (Richard Amann, Thomas Vande Ginste, Viktor Peter, Wolf Plancke, & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2022)Games Played Last Week:03:32 -Rats of Wistar (Simone Luciani and Danilo Sabia, Cranio Creations, 2023)09:15 -Voidfall (Nigel Buckle & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2023)11:00 -Faiyum: Privileges (Friedemann Friese, 2F-Spiele, 2023)15:04 -Horizon Wars: Midnight Dark (Robey Jenkins, Precinct Omega Publishing, 2023)22:52 -Burned

"This here's a jam for all the gamersTryin' to do what those rulebooks offerGet shot down 'cause you're overzealousTake too long, opponents get jealousOk, smarty, go to a partyGames are on the menu for everybodyYou wanna play a game that's more complexerBut you're standin' on the wall like you was PoindexterA game is laid out, one not played outThe options unfold and your mind just spins outThey say you should take your turn or get removedSo come on, gamer, and just bust a move"-Young MC, noted foe of analysis paralysisGames Played Last Week:01:10 -Evolution: Climate (Dominic Crapuchettes, Dmitry Knorre, & Sergey Machin, North Star Games, 2016)05:57 -Tiny Epic Crimes (Scott Almes, Gamelyn Games, 2023)10:20 -The Fox Experiment (Jeff Fraser and Elizabeth Hargrave, Pandasaurus Games, 2023)13:45 -Undergrove (Elizabeth Hargrave and Mark Wootton, AEG, 2024)15:15 -Votes for Women (Tory Brown, Fort Circle Games, 2022)17:52 -The Gods Will Have Blood (Daniel Bullock, Lock Horns G

Just before Mark is de-platformed, he would like to remind the SVWAG audience of two very important facts. First, he is but a man shouting into a can, and just because he doesn't like the thing you like doesn't make either less worthy of respect, dignity, and chocolate. He is willing to accept the possibility that he's Playing It Wrong and/or Doesn't Get It and/or needs to Git Gud and/or is just insufficiently evolved.Second, a reminder that complaints are to be directed to support@aircanada.ca.01:12 AYURIS: El Grande (Wolfgang Kramer & Richard Ulrich, Hans im Glück, 1995)Games Played Last Week:02:26 -Age of Innovation (Helge Ostertag, Capstone Games, 2023)07:55 -Mage Knight: The Board Game (Vlaada Chvatil, WizKids, 2011)14:08 -Knarr (Thomas Dupont, Bombyx, 2023)15:13 -The Fox Experiment (Jeff Fraser and Elizabeth Hargrave, Pandasaurus Games, 2023)18:45 -Android: Netrunner (Richard Garfield and Lukas Litzsinger, Fantasy Flight Games, 2012)23:23 -Apiary (Connie Vogelmann, Stonemaier Games,

A review of So Very Wrong About Games, not actually by Werner Herzog:"To listen to SVWAG is to court madness. One host is beholden to the delusion that if he utters sufficient words in a short period of time he may stave off his inevitable death, whereas the other grapples with the false consciousness of refusing to acknowledge life's meaninglessness. Collectively their banter serves as a cruel rebuke to evolution, a bitter mockery of humanity's purported superiority over a nature they despise and denigrate. It is reason's death rattle in the face of pure chaos. Thank you for recommending Rhino Hero Super Battle, I enjoyed it with my family very much. Four stars."01:20 AYURIS: Agricola (Uwe Rosenberg, Lookout Games, 2007) and Agricola (Revised Edition) (Uwe Rosenberg, Lookout Games, 2016)Games Played Last Week:04:25 -Ceres (Gustaf Sundström, Artipia Games, 2023)10:22 -Daybreak (Matt Leacock & Matteo Menapace, CMYK, 2023)13:59 -Raising Robots (Brett Sobol & Seth Van Orden, Nauvoo Ga

Dexterity games, dismissed by many in the board game world as children's toys (whereas, by contrast, we laud them as children's toys), can offer a unique window into the player's soul. A fine dexterity game is a crucible in which one's true character emerges. Are you an assertive, grandiose table-hog capable of great feats but undone by hubris? Are you a small-minded, plodding dilettante lacking in ambition or imagination? Junk Art can reveal all!Games Played Last Week:02:11 -Age of Innovation (Helge Ostertag, Capstone Games, 2023)13:33 -Paku Paku (Antoine Bauza, Ravensburger, 2017)14:49 -Belratti (Michael Loth, Mogel-Verlag, 2018)16:47 -Revive: Call of the Abyss (Helge Meissner, Kristian Amundsen Østby, Eilif Svensson, and Anna Wermlund, Aporta Games, 2023)22:13 -Tetra Tower (Uncredited, Enksy, 2014)24:27 -Junk Art (Jay Cormier & Sen-Foong Lim, Pretzel Games, 2016)27:47 -General Orders: World War II (Trevor Benjamin and David Thompson, Osprey Games, 2023)36:30 -Riftforce (Carlo Bortolini,

There's no time no time at all we must get to the games there's been so many all the time one after another hurry hurry we must get to all of the games01:26 AYURIS: Riftforce (Carlo Bortolini, 1 More Time Games, 2021)Games Played Last Week:03:07 -Septima (Robin Hegedűs, Mindclash Games, 2023)10:42 -White Castle (Israel Cendrero & Sheila Santos, Devir Games, 2023)16:25 -Paku Paku (Antoine Bauza, Ravensburger, 2017)20:45 -Nekojima (David Carmona & Karen Nguyen, Unfriendly Games, 2023)25:02 -Catch the Moon (Fabien Riffaud & Juan Rodriguez, Bombyx, 2017)27:25 -TEAM3 GREEN (Alex Cutler & Matt Fantastic, Brain Games, 2019)30:58 -Piazza Rabazza (Guido Hoffman and Jens-Peter Schliemann, Zoch Verlag, 2022)33:43 -Tumblin' Dice (Carey Grayson, Randy Nash, and Rick Soued, Eagle-Gryphon Games, 2004)35:38 -After Us (Florian Sirieix, Catch Up Games, 2023)43:12 -Raising Robots (Brett Sobol & Seth Van Orden, Nauvoo Games, 2023)46:49 -Moonrakers (Max Anderson, Zac Dixon, and Austin Harrison, IV

The shift from Beckett references to low-grade puns might strike one as jarring, but it is important to note that both hosts have essentially been twelve going on sixty for most of their lives. If it's not juvenile and/or obscure, it is difficult for the hosts to process--they become disoriented and frightened. In such circumstances, a nice Star Control II reference will probably calm them down. Hey, there's one of those in this episode, too!Games Played Last Week:01:52 -Great Western Trail: New Zealand (Alexander Pfister, eggertspiele, 2023)07:03 -FlickFleet: Xeno Wars (Jackson Pope & Paul Willcox, Eurydice Games, 2022)13:04 -White Castle (Israel Cendrero & Sheila Santos, Devir Games, 2023)16:38 -Forgotten Depths (Peter Albertson, Void Knight Games, 2022)20:37 -Omicron Protocol (Brendan Kendrick & Bernie Lin, Dead Alive Games, 2022)29:09 -Among Cultists: A Social Deduction Thriller (Stefan Godot, Godot Games, 2023)News (and why it doesn't matter):38:40 Rafter Five: Dexterity from Oink