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So Very Wrong About Games
So Very Wrong About Games
Author: Pickaxe
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A podcast about all manner of hobby games by Mike Walker and Mark Bigney. Bad games don't go easy on you, so we don't go easy on them. Thorough analysis via reviews, news, and discussion of topics in gaming. We take context seriously, we value your time, and we're not into hype. Just because games are fun doesn't mean we can't take them seriously, and just because we take them seriously doesn't mean we can't have fun.
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Today's episode is brought to you by the letter T
T stands for tracks, tedium, Tiny mini games and sometimes Torturous
00:00 Intro
AYURIS
01:08 Captain Flip (Remo Conzadori, Paolo Mori, PlayPunk 2024)
Games We Played Last Week
04:06 Fields of Arle (Uwe Rosenberg, Feuerland Spiele 2014)
08:16 Lunar Rush (Steven "Skippy" Brown, Dead Alive Games 2023)
10:08 Clans of Caledonia: Industria (Juma Al-JouJou, Karma Games 2025)
14:35 Star Trek: Star Realms Core Set (Darwin Kastle, UVS Games 2024)
18:58 The White Castle Duel (Isra C., Shei S., Devir 2025)
24:17 Natera: New Beginning (Eric Fugere, Hugo Tremblay-Ledoux, Horizon Games 2025)
NEWS and why it doesent matter
28:08 Mythwind: Herbalist & Shepherd Expansions
29:07 New stuff for Codenames
30:01 Knarr: Skali
30:13 Gold Country and Totally Human
30:45 Sagrada New Edition
32:48 Main Topic ranking T games
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A viking fighting for Olav the Holy at Stiklestad gets an arrow in the eye. The man pulls the arrow out, his eyeball still on out it, and says: "Det jaggu nærme nasen! (That was damn close the my nose)"
Another viking fighting for Olav at Stiklestad gets an arrow through his heart. He manages to pull the arrow out and study it. With his dying breath he says: "Eg har fettslintrat kring hjartet. Kongen har fødd meg vel. (I have fat arround my heart. The king has fed me well)".
00:00 Intro
Games We Played Last Week
00:48 The Druids of Edora (Stefan Feld, alea 2025)
02:55 Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders (Tim Eisner, Ben Eisner, Druid City Games 2024)
08:20 Siege of the Citadel (Richard Borg, Jay Little, Kevin Wilson, Modiphius Entertainment 2019)
12:52 Flamecraft Duals (Manny Vega, Cardboard Alchemy 2025)
14:24 Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon (Fabio Lopiano, Nestore Mangone, Sorry We Are French 2024)
17:06 Radlands (Daniel Piechnick, Roxley 2021)
18:22 Creature Caravan (Ryan Laukat, Red Raven Games 2024)
23:56 Wroth (Manny Trembley, Chip Theory Games 2025)
News
31:07 Disney Villainous:Hocus Pocus
31:52 BGA News
33:33 Colt Express: The Complete Collection
Main Review
34:35 Valheim: The Board Game (2025)
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On today's episode we have Sam from Board Game Dual Podcast
https://boardgameduel.podbean.com/
00:00 INTRO
Games we played this week.
01:09 Yokohama Duel (Hisashi Hayashi, OKAZU Brand 2018)
05:19 Airlines Europe (Alan R. Moon, Rio Grande Games 2011)
07:45 I Made You a Mixtape (Mike DiLisio, Dan Hughes, Massive Asterisk 2025)
11:12 Mutant Chronicles: Siege of the Citadel (Richard Borg, Pressman Toy Corp. 1993)
14:49 Marvel Champions: The Card Game (Michael Boggs, Nate French, Caleb Grace Fantasy Flight Games 2019)
18:46 Agent Avenue (Christian Kudahl, Laura Kudahl, Nerdlab Games 2024)
22:35 Unrest (Brendan Hansen, Pandasaurus Games 2023)
27:27 Marabunta (Reiner Knizia, Space Cowboys 2023)
30:28 Tag Team (Gricha German, Corentin Lebrat, Scorpion Masqué 2025)
33:56 Storm Raiders (Shem Phillips, Arkus Games 2025)
38:07 News (And why it doesn't matter)
41:41 Main Review Nokosu Dice
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https://boardgamebarrage.com/
Well here it is Walker's all alone now.....
Today I am joined by Mark from Board Game Barrage
00:00 Intro
01:08 Games we played last week.
01:12 Bomb Busters (Hisashi Hayashi,Cocktail Games,2024)
05:00 Let's Go Japan (Josh Wood,AEG,2024)
08:28 Taj Mahal (Reiner Knizia,Ravensburger,2000)
11:55 Lone Wolves (Yasuyuki Nakamura,Anthony Perone, Wonderful World Board Games,2024)
15:33 Subjective(Andrew Wolf,Spin Master Ltd.,2023)
18:42 Tabannusi: Builders of Ur (David Spada, Daniele Tascini,Board&Dice,2021)
21:01 Duplik (William Jacobson, Amanda Kohou,Braincog, Inc.,2005)
23:44 Clinic: Deluxe Edition(Alban Viard,AVStudioGames,2019)
28:58 Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders (Tim Eisner, Ben Eisner,Druid City Games,2024)
31:28 Reflections 1
39:21 News and why it does not matter
45:18 Refelctions 2
49:19 Main Review Zenith
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This guy just won't leave... Mark and I in our last, last episode together for a bit. Not to worry I will be rambling ever forward.
In this shorter episode we talk about just the games we played last week, some news and scene.
01.29 -AYURIS: Slay the Spire: The Board Game (Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti, and Casey Yano, Contention Games, 2024)
Games Played Last Week:
05:05 -Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders (Tim Eisner and Ben Eisner, Druid City Games, 2024)
07:15 -Innovation Ultimate (Carl Chudyk, Asmadi Games, 2025)
12:47 -The Druids of Edora (Stefan Feld, alea, 2025)
16:00 -Hot Streak (Jon Perry, CMYK, 2025)
20:28 -Bohemians (Jasper de Lange, Portal Games, 2025)
26:49 -The Crew: Mission Deep Sea (Thomas Sing, KOSMOS, 2021)
28:20 -Federation: Piracy (Dimitri Perrier & Matthier Verdier, Explor8, 2025)
35:46 -Fishing (Friedemann Friese, 2F-Spiele, 2024)
37:16 -Formaggio (Ben Rosset, Road to Infamy Games, 2025)
41:15 -News (and why it doesn't matter):
41.18 -Stonemaier release schedule
43:12 -Dark Pact by Thomas Lehman and Trick or Treat Studios
44:57 -New version of Rudiger Dorn's Las Vegas from Ravensburger
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In some ways, the origin story of the podcast can be traced back to Sentinels of the Multiverse. Upon arriving in Kingston, Mark was at a games event at someone's home, and he saw that someone had brought a then-complete set (this was a few expansions ago) of Sentinels. He knew that this person, namely Walker, was a person worth knowing. It therefore seemed fitting that on one of Mark's last days in Kingston that he, Walker, Huey, Dewey, and Louis play Sentinels.
Games Played Last Week:
02:38 -Zenith (Grégory Grard & Mathieu Roussel, PlayPunk, 2025)
08:18 -Race for the Galaxy (Thomas Lehmann, Rio Grande Games, 2007)
11:20 -Don't L.L.A.M.A. Dice (Reiner Knizia, AMIGO, 2021)
12:19 -Word Traveler (Thomas Dagenais-Lespérance, Office Dog, 2024)
16:05 -Sentinels of the Multiverse (Christopher Badell, Paul Bender, & Adam Rebottaro, Greater Than Games, 2011)
19:30 -The Druids of Edora (Stefan Feld, alea, 2025)
24:50 -The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship (Matt Leacock, Z-Man Games, 2025)
27:58 -Toy Battle (Paolo Mori & Alessandro Zucchini, Repos Production, 2025)
31:43 -MicroMacro: Kids - Crazy City Park (Johannes Sich, Edition Spielwiese, 2025)
32:50 -Concept Kids: Animals (Gaëtan Beaujannot & Alain Rivollet, Repos Production, 2018)
33:51 -Tumblin' Dice (Carey Grayson, Randy Nash, and Rick Soued, Eagle-Gryphon Games, 2004)
2025 in Review
35:45 Top 10
57:42 Game of the Year
1:00:18 Special Categories
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"One day I was sitting in a gazebo, and there was a plaque on the gazebo and it said, 'This gazebo was built by the town in 1863.' That is in the middle of the Civil War. And the whole town built a gazebo. What was that town meeting like? 'All right, everyone, first order of business, we have all the telegrams from Gettysburg with the war dead. Let’s see here. Okay, everyone’s husband and brother and… everyone died. Okay. Josiah, you had something?' 'Yes, I do. How’d you like to be indoors and out of doors all at once? Ever walk into the park with your betrothed and it starts to rain, but you still want to hold hands? Well, may I introduce you to, and my condolences again to everyone, the gazebo!'"
-John Mulaney, "Kid Gorgeous at Studio City"
Games Played Last Week:
01:29 -Coyote (Spartaco Albertarelli, New Games Order, 2015)
04:07 -Tapple Mini (NPD Toys, The Op Games, 2025)
07:17 -Die fiesen 7 (Jacques Zeimet, Drei Hasen in der Abendsonne, 2015)
09:41 -Manila (Franz-Benno Delonge, Zoch Verlag, 2005)
14:17 -G.I. JOE Deck-Building Game (T.C. Petty III, Renegade Game Studios, 2021)
16:56 -The Gang (John Cooper and Kory Heath, KOSMOS, 2024)
20:29 -Trickadee (Rob Newton, Coin Flip Games, 2025)
24:26 -Spicy (Győri Zoltán Gábor, HeidelBÄR Games, 2020)
28:13 -Good Puppers, Too! (Chris Cieslik, Asmadi Games, 2025)
33:40 -Cross Bronx Expressway (Non-Breaking Space, GMT Games, 2025)
News (and why it doesn't matter):
46:47 Dire Wolf and Tabletop Playground
48:01 New games from Badgers from Mars! Regicide Inferno, Regicide Crown Duels, and Viking Rush
49:07 Show news: guest hosts in early 2026
50:27 Feature Game: Gazebo (Reiner Knizia, Bitewing Games, 2025)
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"I thought the Rococo was the name of the ship in Aliens."
"No, that's Sulaco. Rococo is the statute targeting organized crime."
"No, that's RICO. Rococo is the hot beverage made with chocolate."
"No, that's cocoa. Rococo is what you put on walls to give them texture."
"No, that's stucco. Rococo is a kind of shortened note in music."
"No, that's staccato..."
1:10 AYURIS: Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan (Gordon Calleja, Mighty Boards, 2024)
Games Played Last Week:
4:38 -Regicide (Paul Abrahams, Luke Badger, & Andy Richdale, Badgers from Mars, 2020)
5:54 -The Crew: Mission Deep Sea (Thomas Sing, KOSMOS, 2021)
8:54 -Men-Nefer (Germán P. Millán, Ludonova, 2024)
12:49 -Philharmonix (Faris Suhaimi, Archona Games, 2025)
20:20 -Galactic Cruise (T.K. King, Dennis Northcott, and Koltin Thompson, Kinson Key Games, 2025)
26:51 -Kinfire Council (Kevin Wilson, Incredible Dream Studios, 2025)
36:08 -La Pâtisserie Rococo (Stefan Malz & Louis Malz, Eagle-Gryphon Games, 2025)
News (and why it doesn't matter):
43:32 Leviathan Wilds: Shattered Peak expansion in 2026
43:56 Take no longer to be published by Leder Games
44:37 Queen of Spies by Liz Davidson and David Thompson
45:29 Topic: Racing Games
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You gotta read the fine print, always. Anyone dealing with a supernatural entity--whether a djinn or deity, gremlin or god--has to be conscious of the exceptions. It's simple enough--if the wizard handing you a fantastical creature tells you not to feed it, you just don't feed it. Similarly, if someone promises not to kill you *in a certain way*, MacBeth can tell you that's more of a threat than a guarantee.
Games Played Last Week:
01:18 -Autobahn (Fabio Lopiano and Nestore Mangone, Alley Cat Games, 2022)
05:55 -Sidereal Confluence: Bifurcation (TauCeti Deichmann, WizKids, 2022)
12:46 -Origin Story (Jamey Stegmaier & Pete Wissinger, Stonemaier Games, 2025)
15:12 -Bargain Hunter (Uwe Rosenberg, Valley Games, 1998)
17:11 -KINGs: TRICKTAKERs (Hiroken, Joyple Games, 2023)
18:39 -Inkling (John Keyworth, Osprey Games, 2011)
20:47 -In the Shadows: Resistance in France 1943-1944 (Daniel Bullock & Joe Schmidt, GMT Games, 2025)
26:13 -Riftbound (Uncredited, Riot Games, 2025)
32:46 -Regicide Legacy (Paul Abrahams, Luke Badger, and Andy Richdale, Badgers from Mars, 2025)
34:33 -Lancaster: Big Box (Matthias Cramer & Wolfgang Panning, Queen Games, 2015)
News (and why it doesn't matter):
39:44 Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Game by Cryptozoic
42:30 Reiner Knizia's Rheinlander reprint by 25th Century Games
44:33 Feature Game: Covenant (Germán P. Millán, Devir, 2025)
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Yes, it’s Tapple! The toy sensation that’s sweeping the nation! Only $14.95 at participating stores! Get one today!
Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly, and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to Tapple.
Caution: Tapple may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.
Tapple contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.
If Tapple begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head.
Ingredients of Tapple include an unknown glowing green substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.
Do not taunt Tapple.
-Saturday Night Live
0216 AYURIS: Leviathan Wilds (Justin Kemppainen, Moon Crab Games, 2024)
Games Played Last Week:
04:01 -Tapple Mini (NPD Toys, The Op Games, 2025)
07:53 -Faiyum (Friedemann Friese, 2F-Spiele, 2020)
13:30 -Ayar: Children of the Sun (Mandela Fernandez-Grandon & Fabio Lopiano, Osprey Games, 2025)
16:10 -Wriggle Roulette (Bruno Faidutti & Jun Sasaki, Oink Games, 2025)
19:52 -Pick 'n Packers (Kaoru Arishima, Oink Games, 2025)
23:07 -Galactic Renaissance: 5th Player (Christian Martinez, Matagot, 2024)
27:49 -The Crew: Mission Deep Sea (Thomas Sing, KOSMOS, 2021)
29:27 -No Loose Ends (Taiki Shinzawa, GameHead, 2025)
30:11 -Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon (Fabio Lopiano & Nestore Mangone, Sorry We Are French, 2024)
News (and why it doesn't matter):
33:45 Earth Reborn return news: West Coast expansion with Play to Z
36:19 Topic: Omnibus Questions Epsilon Bet
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Before Dr. Reiner Knizia invented areas, everyone and everything was simultaneously co-located and yet distant all at the same time. It was primordial chaos. Movement was effectively impossible, as Xeno demonstrated; then Knizia did don his Bow-Tie of Delineation of Time and Space and constrained and liberated us all at once with his invention of areas.
Games Played Last Week:
00:53 -Dungeons & Dragons: Builders of Baldur's Gate (Matthew Dunstan, WizKids, 2025)
11:40 -Keyflower (Sebastien Bleasdale & Richard Breese, R&D Games, 2012)
15:36 -I'm Out (Masato Uesugi, CMYK, 2025)
20:01 -No Thanks! (Thorsten Gimmler, CMYK, 2025)
25:18 -My Very First Games: Let's Be Veterinarians (Kristin Mückel, HABA, 2024)
27:30 -The Quest for El Dorado: The Golden Temples (Reiner Knizia, Ravensburger, 2019)
31:55 -Peloponnes (Bernd Eisenstein, Irongames, 2009)
News (and why it doesn't matter):
37:48 Renegade reprint of Lords of Waterdeep (with expansion)
39:29 Renegade G.I. Joe Heroscape
43:06 Render unto us your questions! Ask us anything for Omnibus Questions
43:26 Feature Game: The Hobbit: There and Back Again (Reiner Knizia, Office Dog, 2025)
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While Mark is perhaps disappointed at the typical tragic dearth of questions related to Macross and Terry Bogard, and Walker secretly yearns to be granted naming rights to a listener's offspring (protip: don't let him), SVWAG answers all* of your questions!
*by which we mean some.
01:21 AYURIS: Cascadero (Reiner Knizia, Bitewing Games, 2024)
Games Played Last Week:
03:09 -Cerebria: The Inside World (Richard Amann, Viktor Peter, István Pócsi, Frigyes Schőberl, Nick Shaw, & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2018)
09:41 -Captain's Gambit: Kings of Infinite Space (AC Atienza, Alvin Lee, and Mitchell Loewen, Cloudfall Interactive Studios, 2020)
14:27 -Iliad (Reiner Knizia, Bitewing Games, 2025)
19:37 -Floral (James Newman, Edition Spielwiese, 2024)
21:59 -Yomi 2: Road to Morningstar (David Sirlin, Sirlin Games, 2025)
28:58 -Tribune (Karl-Heinz Schmiel, Spielworxx, 2021)
31:46 -Windmill Valley: Blooming Sails (Dani Garcia, Board&Dice, 2025)
35:39 -Ada's Dream (Toni López, Ally Cat Games, 2025)
40:02 -D.E.I.: Divide et Impera (Tommaso Battista, Ludus Magnus Studio, 2022)
42:45 -Molly House (Jo Kelly & Cole Wehrle, Wehrlegig Games, 2025)
News (and why it doesn't matter):
50:59 How much The Gang is too much The Gang? 7-10 player expansion
52:27 The Judge in Circuit by Francis Tresham
53:48 Topic: Omnibus Questions Epsilon Aleph
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In our effort to answer all of your Omnibus Questions, sadly we cannot enlist the assistance of notable Canadian Keanu Reeves. In an interview with Stephen Colbert--as a joke after Keanu said something profound--he was asked, "What do you think happens when we die, Keanu Reeves?" After a pause, and the audience's laughter, Keanu said, "I know that that the ones who love us will miss us."
I SAY DAYUM, KEANU
Games Played Last Week:
01:07 -Dogs of War Second Edition (Paolo Mori, Play to Z, 2026)
11:30 -Ostia (Totsuca Chuo, uchibacoya, 2022)
21:14 -SCOUT (Kei Kajino, Oink Games, 2019)
23:12 -Valheim: The Board Game (Ole Steiness, MOOD Publishing, 2025)
30:18 -Lunar Skyline (Charlie McCarron, Dead Alive Games, 2025)
38:57 -Thebai (Dávid Turczi, Bioard&Dice, 2025)
45:58 -Wilmot's Warehouse (Ricky Haggett, Richard Hogg, and David King, CMYK, 2024)
49:04 -Fairy Tale (Satoshi Nakamura, What's Your Game?, 2008)
News (and why it doesn't matter):
53:37 Render unto us your questions! Ask us anything for Omnibus Questions
54:10 Tigris & Euphrates to be reprinted by 25th Century games, art by Ian O'Toole
55:57 Mage Knight: Apocalypse Dragon expansion; cards will not match, changed font
1:00:08 Will Riftbound be generally available?
1:00:57 Please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/svwag
1:01:51 Feature Game: Wonderland's War (Tim Eisner, Ben Eisner, and Ian Moss, Druid City Games, 2022)
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We deliver this episode despite the officially mandated period of public mourning due to Toronto's setbacks in basesball. In Canada, public mourning is characterized by donning black jean jackets and swapping our Tragically Hip for the more down-tempo Blue Rodeo, to say nothing of abstaining from boardgaming.
Please don't turn us in for violating federal law. We might get banned from Tim Horton's.
01:44 AYURIS: An Age Contrived (Chris Matthew, Bellows Intent, 2024)
Games Played Last Week:
04:56 -X-ODUS: Rise of the Corruption (Second Edition) (Francisco Velasco E., Szilágyi L. Gábor, Yann Hilaire, Romain Lesiuk, & Bernardo Rippe, Bored Game Ink, 2026)
14:29 -Voidfall (Nigel Buckle & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2023)
20:42 -Raising Robots: Friends (Brett Sobol & Seth Van Orden, Nauvoo Games, 2025)
24:03 -1490 Doom (Barrett Stanley, Buer Games, 2025)
30:23 -Natera: New Beginning (Eric Fugere & Hugo Tremblay-Ledoux, Horizon Games, 2025)
34:35 -Deck EXPRESS: Southern Railway (J Simmons, Pigeonhole Games, 2022)
38:07 -No Thanks! (Thorsten Gimmler, CMYK, 2025)
44:08 -I'm Out (Masato Uesugi, CMYK, 2025)
47:42 -Floral (James Newman, Edition Spielwiese, 2024)
52:56 -INK (Kasper Lapp, Final Score Games, 2025)
News (and why it doesn't matter):
57:13 Render unto us your questions! Ask us anything for Omnibus Questions
58:08 Blue Orange Games' Got Five!
58:44 Topic: Listener Hot Takes
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"'Frederick Chopin was a Polish composer in the Romantic style who wrote primarily for the piano.'
I guess this is sort of interesting, as most facts are. But history has shown us that *facts are not what most humans believe.* They are not that which motivates most men and women to love to or to crime.
Now COMPARE this statement:
'Frederick Chopin was a Polish composer in the Romantic style who was obsessed with ladybugs, often letting dozens of them gallop over his neck, arms, and long, tapering fingers while playing the piano.'
Obviously the lie is so much more compelling. It also explains how Chopin finally got rid of his aphid problem."
-John Hodgman, "The Areas of My Expertise"
Games Played Last Week:
01:28 -Phoenix New Horizon (Jorge J. Barroso, Devir, 2024)
11:35 -Sweet Lands (Totsuca Chuo, uchibacoya, 2025)
23:42 -Voidfall (Nigel Buckle & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2023)
29:35 -KINGs: TRICKTAKERs (Hiroken, Joyple Games, 2023)
32:58 -Yokai Septet (Muneyuki Yokouchi, Ninja Star Games, 2018)
36:56 -Origin Story (Jamey Stegmaier & Pete Wissinger, Stonemaier Games, 2025)
45:03 -Keep the Heroes Out!: Boss Battles (Luís Brueh, Brueh Games, 2024)
48:26 -Things in Rings (Peter C. Hayward, Allplay, 2024)
News (and why it doesn't matter):
54:26 Burned available on Gamecrafter's Crowdsale
54:49 Legacy of Mars' audacious release plan: 4 plays in base game
56:17 Did you observe Arkhipov Day on Oct. 27th? Celebrate Vasili Arkhipov and his having saved the human race!
56:56 Feature Game: Luthier (Dave Beck & Abe Burson, Paverson Games, 2025)
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As ever, we do not acknowledge one of the most pernicious false dichotomies in the rulebook space; whether rules should be strictly permissive (you can only do what the rules say you can) or strictly restrictive (you can do anything unless the rules say otherwise). I have never seen a rulebook forbid me from choking an opponent, nor have I see a rulebook give me permission to breathe. I will thus reject both models as being rather too simplistic.
01:28 AYURIS: Galactic Renaissance (Christian Martinez, Matagot, 2024)
Games Played Last Week:
05:09 -The Guest (Arkaitz Caride, Devir, 2025)
10:48 -Cosmic Encounter (Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge, Bill Norton, Peter Olotka, and Kevin Wilson, Fantasy Flight, 2008)
16:04 -Firefighters on Duty (Konstantinos Kokkinis & Sotirios Tsantilas, Artipia Games, 2025)
22:10 -Deck of Spies (James Newman, Web published, 2021)
24:43 -Fishing (Friedemann Friese, 2F-Spiele, 2024)
29:27 -KINGs: TRICKTAKERs (Hiroken, Joyple Games, 2023)
36:11 -Gaslands: Refuelled (Mike Hutchinson, Osprey Publishing, 2019)
40:08 -Cockroach Poker (Jacques Zeimet, Drei Magier Spiele, 2004)
News (and why it doesn't matter):
43:45 Burned available on Gamecrafter's Crowdsale
44:42 Claustrophobia 3rd edition, 1692, by Devir
46:33 Mystic Curling by Asmadi Games on Kickstarter
46:50 Amigo US is no more; No Thanks joining CMYK's Magenta line along with I'm Out
47:46 Voidfall expansion: Resurgence
48:27 Sidereal Confluence expansion: Proliferation
49:11 Winnie the Pooh: Serious Detective
49:39 Arkhipov Day: Oct. 27th. Celebrate Vasili Arkhipov and his having saved the human race!
50:29 Topic: Rulebooks
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"Wiarton Willie is the name given to a Canadian groundhog who lives in the community of Wiarton in Bruce County, Ontario. Every February 2, on Groundhog Day, Willie takes part in the local Wiarton Willie Festival. His role is to predict whether there will be an early spring. Although the original Wiarton Willie died in 1999, the Wiarton Groundhog Day celebrations continue each year with a successor of the original Willie (except in 1999 and 2021 where, due to the previous Willies' deaths, no groundhog was used), and each successor is also referred to as Wiarton Willie.
Groundhog Day, featuring Wiarton Willie, is a popular annual festival in Wiarton and is similar to events in other locations in North America. A midwinter celebration involving an animal with predictive powers was an element of Celtic culture. The link between weather prediction and the day is said to have been inspired by an old Scottish couplet: "If Candlemas Day is bright and clear/ There'll be two winters in the year.""
-Wikipedia
Games Played Last Week:
01:40 -Etherstone (Virginio Gigli & Simone Luciani, ThunderGryph Games, 2025)
12:38 -Dogs of War Second Edition (Paolo Mori, Play to Z, 2026)
26:39 -Vantage (Jamey Stegmaier, Stonemaier Games, 2025)
34:06 -Monikers (Alex Hague & Justin Vickers, CMYK, 2015)
41:06 -My Very First Games: Let's Be Veterinarians (Kristin Mückel, HABA, 2024)
42:55 -Riff Raff (Christoph Cantzler, Zoch Verlag, 2012)
News (and why it doesn't matter):
46:30 Kristian Amundsen Østby and Kjetil Svendsen take tricks with Tax the Rich
47:10 Elder Scrolls expansion, Heroes of Tamriel, on Gamefound
48:00 Berserk on Gamefound
50:54 Battlecrest: Overlord on Kickstarter
51:36 Feature Game: Samurai (Reiner Knizia, Hans im Glück, 1998)
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Rest assured that every topic we address here at SVWAG will be utterly comprehensive and final, unless and until we decide to address it again. Thus, when we discuss tile-laying games, we perforce will cover all of them, each and and every one, and failure to specifically mention any title means it does not exist and must be scrubbed from all records as a revisionist lie.
01:41 AYURIS: Kutná Hora: The City of Silver (Ondřej Bystroň, Petr Čáslava, and Pavel Jarosch, Czech Games Edition, 2023)
Games Played Last Week:
04:55 -Caper: Europe (Unai Rubio, Keymaster Games, 2022)
07:55 -Framework (Uwe Rosenberg, Edition Spielwiese, 2022)
12:38 -INK (Kasper Lapp, Final Score Games, 2025)
16:59 -Bombastic (Robert Hovakimyan, Bitewing Games, 2025)
18:56 -No Loose Ends (Taiki Shinzawa, GameHead, 2025)
26:48 -Marabunta (Reiner Knizia, Space Cowboys, 2023)
30:03 -Saltfjord (Kristian Amundsen Østby & Eilif Svensson, Aporta Games, 2024)
32:01 -Titans Tactics (G. Kelly Toyama, Imbalanced Games, 2013)
35:39 -Guildlands (Ken Boyter & Kedric Winks, Outset Media, 2025)
43:36 -Ascending Empires: Zenith Edition (Ian Cooper, Play to Z, 2024)
News (and why it doesn't matter):
46:27 Please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/svwag
48:09 Fat Bear Week concludes: Chunk is victorious
49:39 Don't Starve: The Board Game
50:38 Arkhipov Day! In recognition of Vasily Arkhipov saving the entire world on October 27, 1962, we celebrate Arkhipov Day on October 27th.
51:43 Uprising: Curse of the Last Emperor Big Box and True Solo Mode on Kickstarter
52:45 Decipher the Voynich Manuscript in The Voynich Puzzle
55:25 Topic: Tile-Laying Games
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"A quipu usually consists of cotton or camelid fiber cords, and contains categorized information based on dimensions like color, order and number. The Inca, in particular, used knots tied in a decimal positional system to store numbers and other values in quipu cords. Depending on its use and the amount of information it stored, a given quipu may have anywhere from a few to several thousand cords. [...]
Inca administration used quipus extensively for a variety of uses: monitoring tax obligations, collecting census records, keeping calendrical information, military organization, and potentially for recording simple and stereotyped historical "annales"."
-Wikipedia
SVWAG's Pickaxe stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t8XLnJha-E
Games Played Last Week:
00:55 -Marvel Dice Throne Missions (Gavan Brown & Nate Chatellier, Roxley, 2025)
05:03 -It's a Wonderful World (Frédéric Guérard, La Boîte de Jeu, 2019)
09:03 -The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game (Bryan Bormueller, Office Dog, 2025)
12:03 -Corporate America (Teale Fristoe, Nothing Sacred Games, 2013)
15:23 -Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders (Tim Eisner and Ben Eisner, Druid City Games, 2024)
18:03 -Captain's Gambit: Kings of Infinite Space (AC Atienza, Alvin Lee, and Mitchell Loewen, Cloudfall Interactive Studios, 2020)
23:51 -Lacuna (Mark Gerrits, CMYK, 2023)
27:12 -Stellar Conflict (James Ernest & Tom Jolly, Artipia Games, 2015)
29:48 -Figment (Wolfgang Warsch, CMYK, 2025)
31:53 -Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Leicester (Changhyun Baek, Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, Stefano Luperto, and Antonio Tinto, DiceTree Games, 2023)
News (and why it doesn't matter):
35:43 Reprint of At the Gates of Loyang
36:09 Fat Bear week comes to its climax! https://explore.org/fat-bear-week
37:19 The Hobbit: There and Back Again roll-and-write by Reiner Knizia
37:42 Dogs of War reprint: controversy over hats
38:38 Wandering Galaxy: A Crossroads Game
39:50 Cross-Bronx Expressway by Non-Breaking Space and GMT Games
41:26 Cranio expansion pack on crowdfunding Oct. 1st: Barrage, Rats of Wistar, Golem
42:09 Feature Game: Ayar: Children of the Sun (Mandela Fernandez-Grandon & Fabio Lopiano, Osprey Games, 2025)
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We are staunchly body positive here at SVWAG, but we do prefer our bears fat. "Let me have about me bears that are fat," said Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, or he would have, had he known about the glory that is Fat Bear Week. I guess Caesar wouldn't have been totally down with the democratic aspect of the whole voting thing, but whatever! Exercise your franchise and vote for the moist chonkers bears.
https://explore.org/fat-bear-week
01:38 AYURIS: Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Leicester (Changhyun Baek, Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, Stefano Luperto, and Antonio Tinto, DiceTree Games, 2023)
Games Played Last Week:
03:29 -Magical Athlete (Richard Garfield & Takashi Ishida, CMYK, 2025)
10:29 -Revive: Call of the Abyss (Helge Meissner, Kristian Amundsen Østby, Eilif Svensson, and Anna Wermlund, Aporta Games, 2023)
13:19 -River Rats (Mathijs Jansen & Robin Stokkel, Four Suits Studio, 2025)
20:16 -Yokai Septet (Muneyuki Yokouchi, Ninja Star Games, 2018)
24:56 -Amun-Re: The Card Game (Reiner Knizia, Super Meeple, 2017)
31:25 -Regicide Legacy (Paul Abrahams, Luke Badger, and Andy Richdale, Badgers from Mars, 2025)
34:58 -Light Speed: Arena (Leonardo Alese, James Ernest, Tom Jolly, and Emanuele Santellani, Tablescope, 2025)
37:51 -Everdell Silverfrost (James A. Wilson & Clarissa A. Wilson, Starling Games, 2025)
42:16 -ORBIT (Reiner Knizia, Bitewing Games, 2025)
News (and why it doesn't matter):
46:05 Dogs of War on Gamefound
48:51 A Billion Suns 2E open beta with Mike Hutchinson's Planet Smasher Games
50:23 Twilight Imperium 4th ed. digital edition on Steam
51:42 GAMA Game Store Day: November 1st
53:22 Special edition of Terra Mystica by Steamforged Games
54:10 Topic: Why Is This Game So Long?
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Dead Reckoning is literally my favorite game. surprised to hear the sharp critiques of it 🤣
For those listening, I have never played Meadow with four, but at 20 plays split between two and three our average playtime is 51 minutes. I'm going to hard disagree with 90-120 minutes. I think it's exactly the intro game for some people into the hobby and my copy is currently in loan for exactly that purpose.
Love the podcast content and have listened to every episode, some multiple times. I’m not a fan of the growing inclusion of virtue signaling though. This is a podcast about board games. Hopefully it stays that way.
Most aptly named podcast in the genre.
Another great episode!..
Another great episode! Always enjoyed your company in my ears. Please play Etherfields. People around the world are all ready doing it, nad the pledge manager in Gamefound was re-opened, and the opinions about it are not quite all the same, so... seems to me like those are the idle conditions to jump in, take some experience with it, and share your impressions. PEACE!
Really? I absolutely LOVE this game. It probably shouldn't be played more than 3 players.
I thought this was such an awesome topic.
Thank you for an amazing podcast. for all the enrichment and good vibes. thank you for being so decent and honest and truthful, for nothing is taken for granted. nevertheless, there are so many games that curious to hear you share your opinion with us. By a rating in BGG, "Eclipse: Second dawn for the galaxy" will mostly be one of them. (But also "Tidal Blades", "Project Elite", "Dark Ages", "Anachrony", "Trickerion", and so many more..)
I wish I knew what to make of Mark's board game reviews. He's so unbelievablyyyy particular and he dislikes 75% of games that I enjoyed for intricate reasons, sometime as intricate as female characters being scantily clad. I just wished his intricacy served to inform my tastes in any way because I truly appreciate his dedication to the hobby and the thoughtfulness he brings when discussing games.
if you don't buy the luxified components you'll just buy another game for yer shelf. 😀 we gamers are probably too rich and our hobby isn't expensive enough? 🤪
I just discovered you guys, thanks to Reddit. Now I'm binge listening. Thanks for bringing something new to the hobby - honest opinions! : -D Keep up the good work, you're the first Podcast I've backed on Patreon.
OK, so I enjoyed your chat about game shelving solutions. Guess that makes me more of a geek than I thought!!
i love you guys are on castbox