Lens and Veil Podcast

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they discuss Spirited, their first co-design all together. Spirited is a fast card driven game with push your luck elements where players must build wonders or forge allegiances with the numerous clans of the world. Featuring real historic civilisations interpreted by anthropomorphic animal characters.Spirited is live on Kickstarter now 👉🏽 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shem/spirited?ref=apmko7📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:07:08 - Intro0:07:24 - Overview of Spirited0:10:53 - Discussion of Spirited1:07:26 - Questions for audience1:07:44 - Top 200 Draft: 111-120⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited with both Shem and Sam.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this second part of the countdown of their top 10 games, they cover games 5-1.📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:04:06 - Intro0:04:21 - Preamble0:04:37 - Games 5-10:41:28 - Questions for audience0:41:45 - Top 200 Draft: 101-110⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they count down their top ten games, starting with games 10-6.📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:05:16 - Intro0:05:31 - Preamble, Criteria and Crossover Predictions0:12:57 - Games 10-60:48:14 - Questions for audience0:48:30 - Top 200 Draft: 91-100⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they discuss The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship by Matt Leacock. Fate of the Fellowship is a co-operative game in which each player controls two characters, lending their unique abilities to protect Frodo, battle enemies in pivotal locations, and evade the menacing Nazgûl and Sauron's searching Eye.📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:07:34 - Intro0:07:51 - Overview of Fate of the Fellowship0:10:40 - Discussion of Fate of the Fellowship0:55:05 - Questions for audience0:55:28 - Top 200 Draft: 81-90⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited with both Shem and Sam.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they discuss Through the Ages by Vlaada Chvátil. Through the Ages is a civilisation building game. Each player attempts to build the best civilisation through careful resource management, and by: discovering new technologies, electing competent leaders, building wonders and maintaining a strong military. Weakness in any area can be exploited by your opponents. The game takes place throughout the ages, beginning in the age of antiquity and ending in the modern age. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:04:35 - Intro0:04:52 - Overview of Through the Ages0:09:33 - Discussion of Through the Ages1:07:05 - Questions for audience1:07:25 - Top 200 Draft: 71-80⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they discuss Slay the Spire by Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti and Casey Yano. Slay the Spire: The Board Game is a co-operative deck-building, dungeon-crawling adventure based on the video game of the same name. Each player starts with a character with unique abilities and a simple deck of cards that they can improve by adding and removing cards during the game. Slay the Spire is also a rogue-like. That means that when you die you start over from the beginning. The game is divided into Acts. At the end of an Act you can continue, stop and end the adventure there, or save and continue another time! If players defeat the final Boss, they win the game! 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:05:17 - Intro0:05:34 - Overview of Slay the Spire0:09:56 - Discussion of Slay the Spire1:04:45 - Questions for audience1:05:04 - Top 200 Draft: 61-70⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they discuss Secret Societies by S J Macdonald. This is Sam's second ever solo design after Circadians: First Light. The aim of Secret Societies is to gain the most Power by outbidding and outsmarting your opponents to establish your institute as the one most deserving of total governance. Players step into the role of a highly unique Secret Society, equipped with various tools and abilities to help give them the edge over the competition. Over 7 Rounds you will gain Income, Bid for Deeds, deploy Agents, start Projects, make Investments, and seek to control the all-important Conferences. Secret Societies is currently live on Kickstarter here. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:06:16 - Intro0:06:31 - Overview of Secret Societies0:07:56 - Discussion of Secret Societies1:05:03 - Questions for audience1:13:35 - Top 200 Draft: 51-60⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they discuss A Feast for Odin by Uwe Rosenberg. In A Feast for Odin, players Viking civilisations. In this game, you will raid and explore new territories. You will also engage in the day-to-day activity of collecting goods with which to achieve a financially secure position in society. In the end, the player whose possessions bear the greatest value will be declared the winner. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:04:41 - Intro0:04:57 - Overview of A Feast for Odin0:09:09 - Discussion of A Feast for Odin1:05:03 - Questions for audience1:05:23 - Top 200 Draft: 41-50⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this anniversary episode marking one year of Lens and Veil, they answer a variety of questions provided by fans in the Garphill Discord. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Intro0:00:55 - Which would you prefer?0:05:36 - Quick Fire with Shem0:08:48 - Q&A and Discussion1:11:17 - Top 200 Draft: 31-40⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they discuss Underwater Cities by Vladimír Suchý. In Underwater Cities, players represent the most powerful brains in the world, brains nominated due to the overpopulation of Earth to establish the best and most livable underwater areas possible. Players take worker placement actions, trying to combine the action with correctly coloured cards in order to gain both bonuses. The game is made up of 10 rounds but with production only occurring 3 times during the game. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:06:12 - Intro0:06:29 - Overview of Underwater Cities0:10:12 - Discussion of Underwater Cities0:54:43 - Questions for audience0:55:11 - Top 200 Draft: 21-30⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they discuss The Anarchy, and are joined by the game's designer Bobby Hill. In The Anarchy, players take on the role of English nobles loyal to King Stephen during the civil war. Over five rounds, players must build their domain, defend their castle from attacks by the approaching Angevin armies, and storm strongholds loyal to Matilda with their own crafted siege weapons. You can purchase The Anarchy at garphill.com.You can find out more about about Bobby's upcoming games on his website here.📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Intro0:00:28 - Which would you prefer?0:05:06 - Overview of The Anarchy0:07:06 - Discussion of The Anarchy0:53:00 - Questions for audience0:53:25 - Top 200 Draft: 11-20⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they discuss Civolution by Stefan Feld. Civolution is a heavy euro-style sandbox game that uses a dice selection mechanism to trigger actions on a tech tree-like structure. The game has many strategies and paths to victory. Each time you play, you will only explore a fraction of the possibilities that the game’s system and many cards provide.📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:10:37 - Intro0:10:55 - Overview of Civolution0:20:10 - Discussion of Civolution0:59:39 - Questions for audience0:59:58 - Top 200 Draft: 1-10⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this special episode they discuss the nominees for the Kennerspiel Des Jahres 2025: Looot by Charles Chevallier and Laurent Escoffier, Endeavor: Deep Sea by Carl de Visser and Jarratt Gray, and Faraway by Johannes Goupy and Corentin Lebrat. They each talk about some things they loved or liked and one thing they disliked about each game, then they each answer the questions: "Which do you think will win?", "Which do you think deserves to win?", and "Which would you like to win?".📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:05:29 - Intro0:06:06 - Discussion of Looot0:27:57 - Discussion of Endeavor: Deep Sea0:56:45 - Discussion of Faraway1:11:23 - Predictions Introduction1:11:46 - Which game will win?1:15:11 - Which game deserves to win?1:17:56 - Which game would we like to win?⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they discuss Assyria Second Edition by Emanuele Ornella, Shem Phillips, and S J Macdonald. In Assyria Second Edition, each round players bid for turn order, expand on the map, and take various actions. After the third and sixth rounds, a flood will occur, wiping away everything along the two rivers. After the final flood, the player with the most points wins. You gain points primarily by building huts and ziggurats, making offerings, and increasing your influence.Visit the Kickstarter📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:07:55 - Intro0:08:15 - Discussion of Assyria Second Edition1:11:55 - Questions for audience1:12:19 - Kickstarter Overview⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they discuss Lost Ruins of Arnak by Elwen and Mín. Lost Ruins of Arnak combines deck-building and worker placement in a game of exploration, resource management, and discovery. In addition to traditional deck-builder effects, cards can also be used to place workers, and new worker actions become available as players explore the island.📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:06:03 - Intro0:06:22 - Overview of Lost Ruins of Arnak0:11:30 - Discussion of Lost Ruins of Arnak1:03:38 - Questions for audience1:04:01 - Weekly Board Game Dilemma⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this special episode they perform a snake draft of board game designers into their 5-a-side team. They each need to choose at least 1 attacker, 1 midfielder, 1 defender and 1 new recruit.Attackers: Designers who have the ability to make real hits, even if they're not always consistent.Midfielders: Designers who have a wide variety and are prolific.Defenders: Designers who mostly stay in their lane, but don't have many duds.New Recruit: A new designer, or someone who hasn't designed many games.📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Intro0:04:30 - Draft0:40:49 - Captains0:42:34 - Honourable Mentions0:47:40 - A Dilemma!!⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they discuss Golem by Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, and Simone Luciani. Golem is an engine building game based on the 16th-century legend of the Golem of Prague, an anthropomorphic creature that Rabbi Loew animated from a clay statue to protect his people. Using a hybrid worker placement and marble selection action system, players will attempt to score the most victory points through three main areas of the game, golems, books, and artifacts.📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:06:52 - Intro0:07:12 - Overview of Golem0:12:03 - Discussion of Golem1:08:33 - Questions for audience1:08:50 - Weekly Board Game Dilemma⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they discuss SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence by Tomáš Holek. SETI is a card driven eurogame where you lead a scientific institution tasked with searching for traces of life beyond planet Earth. Players will explore nearby planets and their moons by launching probes from Earth while taking advantage of ever-shifting planetary positions, direct their telescopes to gaze into distant star systems and collect promising data to examine and study back home.📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:07:55 - Intro0:08:11 - Overview of SETI0:12:13 - Discussion of SETI1:11:40 - Questions for audience1:11:59 - NEW SEGMENT: Weekly Board Game Dilemma⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.In this episode they discuss Cooper Island by Andreas Odendahl. Cooper Island is a worker placement game with a unique resource system based on the height of tiles on your personal island.📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:04:08 - Intro0:04:23 - Overview of Cooper Island0:07:06 - Discussion of Cooper Island0:49:55 - Questions for audience0:50:16 - What is your favourite overlooked or underrated game?⭐About the CastShem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss Era of Experts by Shem Phillips and S J Macdonald. Era of Experts is an expansion to Inventors of the South Tigris which provides 12 unique playable characters to the game. Each character comes with its own special abilities, starting bonuses, and motivations. 📜Chapters: 0:00:00 - Which would you prefer? 0:09:15 - Intro 0:09:32 - Overview of Era of Experts 0:09:42 - Discussion of Era of Experts 0:53:11 - Questions for audience 0:53:30 - For which game would you like to either see an expansion or another expansion? ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠