Podcast #98: Seize My Silky Rails

Having just arrived back from Belgium's fantastic Zomerspel tabletop convention, Matt and Quinns were inspired by Belgian chips to create this episode of our award-winning podcast. It's long, crunchy, filling and if you eat nothing except this podcast then you will probably die?

Games discussed in this episode include the fascinating Taverns of Tiefan Thal (01:51), the taut little Feld game Carpe Diem (13:48), the simple-yet-delightful Luxor (26:47), the gross-yet-charming Silk (33:13) and the simply superb Rail Pass (49:37). Matt and Quinns also discuss some of the video reviews they've been working on, including Pipeline (1:00:58) and Too Many Bones (1:06:54).

Enjoy, everybody!

GAMES NEWS! 15/07/19

Ava: It was a busy weekend for ‘sports’ or as I like to call them ‘meat-games’, but that doesn’t mean the news wheel has stopped turning. Games gonna game and news is gonna news.

Quinns: Oh, you watched the Cricket World Cup final?

Ava: And something called ‘wombledown’ happened? I was drowning in crickets yesterday and it was a treat for rules-lawyers and fans of obscure tiebreakers everywhere.

Quinns: Ever on-brand, I was too busy playing board games this weekend to watch "sports"! I got to introduce four entire people to El Grande. I understand that the winner of Wimbledon was Woody Harrelson?

Ava: Sounds believable to me. Having had to research ‘Woody Harrelson’s face’ for the Monikers box, I doubt I’ll ever be able to escape his sturdy, well-cleft visage. Truly his countenance is a caballero hidden in the castillo of our hearts.

Welcome, everybody, to the excessively digressive games news.

Review: Pipeline

rude oil, there will be love, peter piper
Today we're very proud to present our review of Capstone Games' Pipeline. A game of pipes, lines, and... erm... the stuff that goes inside of pipes?

You mustn't let Pipeline's lack of theme bother you. Where we're going we don't need theme. Playing Pipeline, you're going to feel the rush of seed money, the thrill of turning a profit, the rollercoaster of handling each new round at greater and greater speeds. In fact, this could be the year's single best economic board game.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

It’s the Final 24 Hours on our second Monikers Kickstarter!

it's the final countdown, pretty sure that's a card in the set actually
Quinns: If you own the party game Monikers, then this is an emergency! There are just 24 hours left to back our Serious Nonsense Box on Kickstarter. Packing a whopping 330 new cards, all of them hewn from tiny fragments of our funny bones, it's a massive expansion and we're tremendously proud of it.

But guess what? If you don't own Monikers, the good news is that the Serious Nonsense Box is a completely standalone game. The bad news is, that makes this an emergency for you as well.

There's no time to waste! Well, actually, there are about 22 hours to waste. But absolutely no more than that.

Thanks so much, everybody.

Review: Fuji

a pretty hellscape, interesting injuries, oozing magma, and you
Kylie: Wolfgang Warsch’ gorgeous new game, Fuji, pits players as mismatched adventurers who find themselves on top of Japan’s most famous volcano. But it was poor planning on the part of the travel agent, because right as you reach the top, Mount Fuji begins to erupt. You and your companions will have to race against the flow of lava, back to the safety of the village.

Did I mention that this is a co-operative game? Together, players will either scramble to safety, or burn to a crisp.

GAMES NEWS! 08/07/19

eager invertebrates, lovable golems, wandering germans, bendy friends
Ava: Happy news-time, my greedy fact-fiends. Quinns is busy with the business of podcasting, so only has time for a deep dive into a single plunge pool of news. That means you’ve got me taking you on a tour of Germany, a mission to Mars, a ride on a golem, to an archaeological dig, a meeting with some Prussian generals, for a poke under the games-bonnet and into the dark heart of Mordor.

Just your average Monday, really.

Let’s get a wriggle on, we’ve so much to see.

SU&SD Play… 878 Vikings!

878 still seems like quite a lot of vikings, it's just showing off
Last summer, Quinns put out an excitable review of 878 Vikings, the latest instalment in a series he calls "The mac & cheese of wargaming."

This summer, we've uploaded a clash of the (online) titans! Matt and Quinns taking on the streaming team of Creative Assembly, makers of the Total War videogames. And frankly, in the face of total war, we think our team did quite well.

Have a lovely weekend, everybody.

Card Games That Don’t Suck: Briscola Chiamata

otherwise known as, crazy assassin bidding bastard briscola
Our series on the best games that you can play with a 52 card deck continues!

Briscola Chiamata is bound to be a real highlight of this series. An incredibly simple trick-taking with hidden roles, this 5 player game sees a team of 4 players facing off against a 5th player... but someone in their ranks is working for the other side.

Huge thanks for supporting this series, everybody! We're having a blast with it.

GAMES NEWS! 01/07/19

quinns' indecent wrist, megafauna friends, a cylindrical hydra, and grief
Ava: Quinns, Quinns? I’ve been wondering…

Quinns: Oh no.

Ava: No it’s fine. I’m just wondering, where does news come from?

Quinns: Well, Ava, when two people love news very much, they get together and…

Ava: I’ve heard enough. Let’s make like Cole Porter and do it. Let’s fall in news.

Quinns: Here we go.

Review: Crokinole

damn it feels good to crok a nole, crokinolispurts, killer croc
Today, we're proud to present the finale of Chronicles Month, as we poke our flag into a most elusive game in the BoardGameGeek Top 100.

Crokinole is big, it's bold, it's 150 years old, and a good board will cost you $300. Those are some very frightening numbers. Could this ever be a reasonable consumer purchase? Click play, and find out.

Huge thanks to the fine people at Woodestic Crokinole for providing us with a discount on our board. If you live in Europe and were interested in a Crokinole board of your very own, make them your first port of call.

Have a great weekend, everybody.