So Very Wrong About Games – Details, episodes & analysis

Solidarity, dear listeners, on this most august September Labour Day. Of course, Labour Day is the labour holiday invented for the US and Canada so as to undermine global solidarity. Nearly everywhere else celebrates International Workers' Day instead. One must marvel at the ingenuity of inventing Labour Day so as to undermine global labour solidarity. 

02:29 AYURIS: Rolling Heights (John D. Clair, AEG, 2023)

Games Played Last Week:

06:59 -Harmonies (Johan Benvenuto, Libellud, 2024)

09:49 -Flowerfall (Carl Chudyk, Asmadi Games, 2012)

11:51 -MicroMacro: Crime City--All In (Johannes Sich, Edition Spielwiese, 2022)

12:29 -Who's the Banana? (Chris Cieslik, Asmadi Games, 2009)

14:52 -Dodo (Frank Bebenroth and Marco Teubner, MOSMOS, 2020)

19:00 -Life in Reterra (Ken Gruhl and Eric M. Lang, Hasbro, 2024)

21:48 -Windmill Valley (Dani Garcia, Board&Dice, 2024)

25:12 -Ra (Reiner Knizia, alea, 1999)

28:28 -River of Gold (Keith Piggott, Office Dog, 2024)

33:06 -Spectral (Ryan Courtney, Bitewing Games, 2024)

37:07 -Bargain Hunter (Uwe Rosenberg, Valley Games, 1998)

41:53 -Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan (Gordon Calleja, Mighty Boards, 2024)

45:15 -Heat: Pedal to the Metal (Asger Harding Granerud and Daniel Skjold Pedersen, Days of Wonder, 2022)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

47:18 Kronologic series: Paris 1920, Cuzco 1450, and Babylon 2500

48:15 Topic: Game Mastery

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Some important editorial notes!

-the game walker mentioned is Völuspá, and no we don't know what work those accents are doing;

-SVWAG does not engage in the eating of seal meat (no one's thought to offer, really);

-we hope that Undaunted 2200: Callisto will follow in Battle of Britain's excellent example of having a badass Sikh pilot.

Games Played Last Week:

01:02 -Nocturne (David Iezzi, Flatout Games, 2024) 

03:24 -Cosmic Encounter (Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge, Bill Norton, Peter Olotka, and Kevin Wilson, Fantasy Flight, 2008)

12:20 -Spectral (Ryan Courtney, Bitewing Games, 2024)

15:13 -The Edge: Dawnfall (Michał Oracz, Krzysztof Piskorski, and Marcin Świerkot, Awaken Realms, 2018)

22:20 -Darwin’s Journey (Simone Luciani and Nestore Mangone, ThunderGryph Games, 2023)

24:50 -Life in Reterra (Ken Gruhl and Eric M. Lang, Hasbro, 2024)

28:06 -Undaunted: Battle of Britain (Trevor Benjamin and David Thompson, Osprey Games, 2023)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

34:55 English Sakura Arms now owned by Japanime Games; third time's the charm?

37:03 Res Arcana Duo expandalone 

37:48 Natera: New Beginning: cute and only somewhat anthropomorphic

38:53 Lords of Heaven from PHALANX: Crusades revisionism or culturally sensitive?

40:55 Feature Game: Deep Rock Galactic (Ole Steiness, MOOD Publishing, 2022)

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While we pride ourselves on our internationalist focus here at SVWAG, we have been remiss in our multilingualism lately. While we reliably rendezvous with French on a semi-regular basis, a skosh of Japanese here and there, a quantum of Latin periodically, and whatever language AYURIS pretends to be, our Spanish could use some work. We thus devote ourselves to utter three whole words of Spanish in this episode.

01:30 AYURIS: Dwellings of Eldervale (Luke Laurie, Breaking Games, 2020)

Games Played Last Week:

03:36 -Federation (Dimitri Perrier and Matthieu Verdier, Explor8, 2022)

06:40 -Successors 4th Edition (Richard H. Berg and Mark Simonitch, PHALANX, 2022)

12:10 -Knarr (Thomas Dupont, Bombyx, 2023)

13:13 -TRICKTAKERs (Hiroken, Joyple Games, 2021) [EDIT: Mark mistakenly claimed that there is no English edition, but this is incorrect]

16:40 -Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan (Gordon Calleja, Mighty Boards, 2024)

22:03 -The Plum Island Horror (Hermann Luttmann, GMT Games, 2023)

26:36 -Sky Team (Luc Rémond, Le Scorpion Masqué, 2023)

28:45 -Slay the Spire: The Board Game (Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti, and Casey Yano, Contention Games, 2024)

35:42 -Gaia Project (Jens Drögemüller & Helge Ostertag, Feuerland Spiele, 2017)

37:47 -nana (Kaya Miyano, Mob+, 2021)

40:48 -Murray the A**hole Frog (Jenna Felli, Devious Weasel Games, 2024)

46:04 -Jenga Maker (Uncredited, Hasbro, 2022)

48:32 -Arcs (Cole Wehrle, Leder Games, 2024)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

55:33 Game Brewer, publisher of Stroganov, Oak and Gugong, calls it quits

55:51 Star Wars: X-Wing and Armada terminated by Atomic Mass Games

56:56 Hans im Glück starts asserting its ownership of the word "meeple"

57:30 Mike Hutchinson and Planet Smasher Games' possible future products: Perilous Tales/Gaslands XL box sets?, Space Gits merging dexterity and miniatures, and more

59:26 Topic: The 180

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Not every game needs to be four huge boxes full of other boxes and plastic. Some can be delightfully simple games... with boxes that are too big due to crowdfunding. Other games could be underappreciated Reiner Knizia classics brought to a new underappreciating audience! Via, I guess, the medium of crowdfunding. Hm. I suppose I don't have a point, except that we, like pearls before swine or a Knizia before a gamer, are ungrateful contradictory ingrates.

Games Played Last Week:
01:58 -Meadow (Klemens Kalicki, Rebel Studio, 2021)
07:26 -Chronicles of Avel (Przemek Wojtkowiak, Rebel Studio, 2021)
10:42 -Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape (Alex Olteanu & Marco Portugal, CMON, 2022)
13:36 -Noli (Jack Caesar & Alessio Cavatore, River Horse Ltd., 2022)
18:40 -Barrage: The Leeghwater Project (Tommaso Battista & Simone Luciani, Cranio Creations, 2019)
22:30 -Stephenson's Rocket (Reiner Knizia, Pegasus Spiele, 1999)
25:19 -The Mirroring of Mary King (Jim Felli, Devious Weasel Games, 2022)
29:05 -Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood (Jamie Jolly, Shadowborne Games, 2022)
36:23 -Siege of Mantua (Amabel Holland, Hollandspiele, 2022)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
41:01 Friedemann Friese's Findorff
41:46 SLightly more HeroScape news on Hasbro Pulse
43:50 Revive by Aporta Games

44:40 Feature Game: It's a Wonderful World (Frédéric Guérard, La Boîte de Jeu, 2019) and It's a Wonderful Kingdom (Frédéric Guérard, La Boîte de Jeu, 2021)

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I met a gamer from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of plastic
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Cool Mini or Not, Kickstarter of Kickstarters.
Look on my pledges ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that Colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

-Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Cool Mini or Not"

01:17 AYURIS: Empyreal: Spells & Steam (Trey Chambers, Level 99 Games, 2020)

Games Played Last Week:
03:21 -Marvel Dice Throne (Gavan Brown, Nate Chatellier, & Manny Trembley, Roxley, 2022)
05:39 -Yggdrasil Chronicles (Cédric Lefebvre, Ludonaute, 2019)
09:51 -Brian Boru: High King of Ireland (Peer Sylvester, Osprey Games, 2021)
14:37 -Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape (Alex Olteanu & Marco Portugal, CMON, 2022)
16:26 -Paint the Roses (Ben Goldman, North Star Games, 2022)
18:20 -Décorum (Harry Mackin, Charlie Mackin, & Drew Tenenbaum, Floodgate Games, 2022)
21:24 -Horizon Wars: Zero Dark (Robey Jenkins, Precinct Omega Publishing, 2020)
23:11 -Skull (Hervé Marly, Asmodee, 2011)
23:37 -Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Scrawlers--Heroes of Undermountain (Vangelis Bagiartakis & Konstantinos Karagiannis, Wizkids, 2021)
24:57 -So Clover! (François Romain, Repos Production, 2021)
27:04 -Hour of Need (Adam Sadler & Brady Sadler, Blacklist Games, 2022)
29:58 -Framework (Uwe Rosenberg, Edition Spielwiese, 2022)
29:58 -Nova Luna (Uwe Rosenberg & Corné van Moorsel, Edition Spielwiese, 2019)
31:03 -Cerebria: The Inside World (Richard Amann, Viktor Peter, István Pócsi, Frigyes Schőberl, Nick Shaw, & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2018)
35:42 -XenoShyft: Onslaught (Keren Philosophales & Michael Shinall, CMON, 2015) and Dreadmire (Michael Shinall, CMON, 2017)
37:32 -Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan (Gordon Calleja, Mighty Boards, 2023)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
41:59 AGL Tournament Pack--Bixie Edition for Aristeia!
42:37 FFG's Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game
42:50 Pandasaurus and Elizabeth Hargrave's The Fox Experiment

44:06 Topic: Done with CMON?

1:05:23 SVWAG Presents Masterpiece Theatre: Prey

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The Smart Car was truly out-of-the-box thinking. "Why do passenger cars all have to be the way they are?" asked some clever group of designers, and designed the minimalistic teensy Smart Car. Of course, the challenges posed by manufacturing the little thing, or driving the little thing on a highway, or walking away from a crash in the little thing, proved to be compelling arguments in favour of more traditional passenger car manufacture. What I'm saying is that sometimes the box exists for a reason, notwithstanding the virtues of experimentation.

Games Played Last Week:
01:48 -The Guild of Merchant Explorers (Matthew Dunstan & Brett J. Gilbert, AEG, 2022)
06:25 -Street Masters (Adam Sadler & Brady Sadler, Blacklist Games, 2018)
11:37 -Oltréé (Antoine Bauza & John Grümph, Studio H, 2021)
17:08 -Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape (Alex Olteanu & Marco Portugal, CMON, 2022)
21:46 -Paint the Roses (Ben Goldman, North Star Games, 2022)
24:04 -Groundhog Day: The Game (Propsero Hall, Funko Games, 2021)
26:21 -Framework (Uwe Rosenberg, Edition Spielwiese, 2022)
29:11 -Circadians: Chaos Order (S J Macdonald & Zach Smith, Garphill Games, 2022)
33:59 -For Science! (R. Eric Reuss, Grey Fox Games, 2021)
35:39 -Vengeance (Gordon Calleja, Mighty Boards, 2018)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
42:24 Tiletum from Daniele Tascini and Simone Luciani, update on the Daniele Tascini controversies
44:47 HeroScape will not return with pre-painted minis and ode to American retail
47:31 SVWAG at the Shut Up & Sit Down Expo: SHUX! September 30 - October 2

47:45 Feature Game: Space Station Phoenix (Gabriel J. Cohn, Rio Grande Games, 2022)

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There was a time you could just stroll in a big box store in the United States and just buy a miniatures skirmish game that was actually pretty good. Sure, it didn't have analog movement or anything, but it used true line of sight and had amazing plastic terrain. So much plastic. Like, a whole lot. One the one hand, Hasbro says they're bringing HeroScape back, but on the other, ain't no way it's coming back the same as it was. They're going to bleed us dry for those little pre-painted dolls--even assuming they're still pre-painted, that is.

Games Played Last Week:
02:22 -My Father's Work (T.C. Petty III, Renegade Game Studios, 2022)
04:20 -Kleos (Jim Kavanagh, Azure Horizon Games, 2021)
08:14 -Meeple War (Max Valembois, Blue Cocker Games, 2016)
10:23 -Imperium: The Contention (Gary Dworetsky, Contention Games, 2021)
12:24 -Neuroshima Hex! 3.0: Beasts (Joanna Kijanka, Portal Games, 2021)
13:48 -Catch the Moon (Fabien Riffaud & Juan Rodriguez, Bombyx, 2017)
15:09 -A Feast for Odin: The Norwegians (Gernot Köpke & Uwe Rosenberg, Feuerland Spiele, 2018)
16:45 -Zeppelin Attack! (Eric B. Vogel, Evil Hat Productions, 2014)
19:22 -Arctic Scavengers (Robert K. Gabhart, Rio Grande Games, 2009)
20:43 -Capital Lux 2: Generations (Eilif Svensson & Kristian Amundsen Østby, Aporta Games, 2021)
23:04 -Wonderland's War (Tim Eisner, Ben Eisner, & Ian Moss, Druid City Games, 2022)
26:53 -Flourish (James A. Wilson & Clarissa A. Wilson, Starling Games, 2021)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
29:37 Everdell digital on Steam by Dire Wolf
30:37 www.patreon.com/svwag
31:39 HeroScape: Age of Annihilation announced at GenCon
34:35 Imperium: Horizons expandalone for Classics/Legends with 14 new civilizations
37:05 SVWAG at the Shut Up & Sit Down Expo: SHUX! September 30 - October 2

37:19 Feature Game: Carnegie (Xavier Georges, Quined Games, 2022)

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Times are bad. Children no longer listen to their elders and everyone is running a Kickstarter. When I started this hobby I had no idea I would get a crash course in international shipping and logistics. Back in the day you might have had a friend in Germany send you the hot new thing, now you're tracking to see when the container ship with your stuff gets to leave port in China.

01:24 AYURIS: Beyond the Sun (Dennis K. Chan, Rio Grande Games, 2020)

Games Played Last Week:
03:42 -Legacy of Dragonholt (Nikki Valens with Daniel Clark, Tim Flanders, Annie VanderMeer Mitsoda, & Greg Spyridis, FFG, 2017)
09:51 -Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Scrawlers--Heroes of Undermountain (Vangelis Bagiartakis & Konstantinos Karagiannis, Wizkids, 2021)
11:36 -The Great Wall (Kamil 'Sanex' Cieśla, Robert Plesowicz, & Łukasz Włodarczyk, Awaken Realms, 2021)
15:08 -Eriantys (Leo Colovini, Cranio Creations, 2021)
20:28 -Northgard: Uncharted Lands (Adrian Dinu, Shiro Games, 2022)
26:14 -Space Station Phoenix (Gabriel J. Cohn, Rio Grande Games, 2022)
30:07 -Don't L.L.A.M.A. Dice (Reiner Knizia, AMIGO, 2021)
31:21 -Circadians: Chaos Order (S J Macdonald & Zach Smith, Garphill Games, 2022)
37:35 -Mosaic: A Story of Civilization (Glenn Drover, Forbidden Games, 2022)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
47:38 Peter Pan by Marc Paquien
48:07 Reprint of Traumfabrik: Nightmare Productions (by Trick or Treat Productions)
48:29 Return of the 7th Sea CCG
48:45 Deal with the Devil: hidden roles, app-driven, huge theological questions
49:26 Bloodstones by Martin Wallace
50:31 SVWAG at the Shut Up & Sit Down Expo: SHUX! September 30 - October 2

51:11 Topic: Does the Industry Demand Too Much?

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Much talk of animals this week, what with wombats and mass animal harvesting in Stroganov. Mark's experience was that despite covering many hot-button issues in his medical ethics classes, the one that invariably produced the most voluble emotional responses was that of medical testing on animals. Pit Bull owners, in particular; despite there being no medical testing of the type discussed on Pit Bulls. Go figure.

Games Played Last Week:
01:03 -San Francisco (Reiner Knizia, Rebel Studio, 2022)
04:44 -Ca$h 'n Guns: Second Edition (Ludovic Maublanc, Repos Production, 2014)
06:69 -Carnegie (Xavier Georges, Quined Games, 2022)
08:15 -Vengeance (Gordon Calleja, Mighty Boards, 2018)
10:17 -Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Scrawlers--Heroes of Undermountain (Vangelis Bagiartakis & Konstantinos Karagiannis, Wizkids, 2021)
12:58 -Dungeons, Dice & Danger (Richard Garfield, alea, 2022)
15:44 -Space Station Phoenix (Gabriel J. Cohn, Rio Grande Games, 2022)
20:09 -The Great Wall (Kamil 'Sanex' Cieśla, Robert Plesowicz, & Łukasz Włodarczyk, Awaken Realms, 2021)
23:08 -Hand-to-Hand Wombat (Matthew Inman, Elan Lee, & Cory O'Brien, Exploding Kittens, 2022)
26:38 -Transmissions (Adam West, CrossCut Games, 2022)
27:54 -Legacy of Dragonholt (Nikki Valens with Daniel Clark, Tim Flanders, Annie VanderMeer Mitsoda, & Greg Spyridis, FFG, 2017)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
32:06 SVWAG at the Shut Up & Sit Down Expo: SHUX! September 30 - October 2
32:30 SVWAG back on YouTube: Video review of Stars of Akarios' Prelude
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXJrOXhZz0E
32:42 Gordon Calleja's Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan
33:33 Undaunted: Battle of Britain
34:37 Ascending Empires: Zenith edition 2023 WizKids
35:48 Hickory Dickory
36:20 Spirit Island: New Horizons Target-exclusive
38:42 CMON's Dune: War for Arrakis

39:20 Feature Game: Stroganov (Andreas Steding, Game Brewer, 2021)

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We celebrate the release of a palindrome episode with the glorious news of the return of SHUX, the Shut Up & Sit Down Expo. Perhaps more relevantly, SVWAG are invited guests! Both Mark and Walker will be in Vancouver from September 30th to October 2nd. Now that you know where they will be, you can more efficiently avoid them. Or you could go play a game with them, whatevs.

02:54 AYURIS: Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef (Tim Eisner & Ben Eisner, Druid City Games, 2020)

Games Played Last Week:
05:45 -Vengeance: Roll & Fight (Gordon Calleja, Noralie Lubbers, & Dávid Turczi, Mighty Boards, 2022)
10:05 -Regicide (Paul Abrahams, Luke Badger, & Andy Richdale, Badgers from Mars, 2020)
10:52 -Scape Goat (Jon Perry, Indie Boards & Cards, 2020)
12:54 -Battlelore 2nd Edition (Richard Borg & Robert A. Kouba, FFG, 2013)
15:57 -Millennium Blades: Collusion (Joshua Van Laningham & D. Brad Talton, Jr., Level 99 Games, 2021)
21:32 -Golem (Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, & Simone Luciani, Cranio Creations, 2021)
22:42 -Clash of the Gladiators (Reiner Knizia, Rio Grande Games, 2002)
27:17 -Guards of Atlantis II (Artyom Nichipurov, Wolff Designa, 2022)
28:22 -Ghost Adventure (Wlad Watine, Buzzy Games, 2020)
31:36 -Orléans (Reiner Stockhausen, dlp Games, 2014)
33:01 -Shamans (Cédrick Chaboussit, Studio H, 2021)
37:19 -Carnegie (Xavier Georges, Quined Games, 2022)
38:39 -Scythe (Jamey Stegmaier, Stonemaier Games, 2016)
39:44 -The Guild of Merchant Explorers (Matthew Dunstan & Brett J. Gilbert, AEG, 2022)

News (and why it doesn't matter):
41:09 Discordia by Bernd Eisenstein
41:25 Spiel des Jahres Winner: Cascadia from Randy Flynn and Flatout Games, Kennerspiel Living Forest from Aske Christiansen and Ludonaute
41:52 The Wordle nightmare evolves into board form
42.32 Sabika by Germán P. Millán
43:00 SVWAG at the Shut Up & Sit Down Expo: SHUX! September 30 - October 2

43:57Topic: Fumbling towards a New Normal
Video: Board Game Design: How COVID 19 changed the board game industry forever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM190p6MiPk

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