Ava: Hlph um kumphlll. Mummph blumph fulmph bugublfu
Quinns: What was that, Ava?
Ava: *large tearing noise and a series of ragged gasps* Help me, Quinns, I’m stuck inside this baseball!
Quinns: …
Ava: It’s an allegory, Quinns, and a warning that this week’s games news is a bit more inside baseball than usual.
Quinns: I can just about understand that, but how did you get in there!?
Ava: Never doubt my commitment to a bit, Quinns. Also, I’m sorry I ruined your baseball.
As anyone who’s seen us at conventions will know, it’s hard for team SU&SD to spend a day out and about without getting into a punching fight or muscle demonstration.
As such, it was only natural that we’d review Combo Fighter. An expandable, simple card game about kicking bottom, and a glorious team effort between designer Asger Johansen and artist Snorre Krogh. If you like the sound of a lightning-fast 1 vs 1 game that’s more intelligent than it has any right to be, do take a closer look.
(And if you’d like to see more of this kind of thing, check out our impressions of Critical Mass on podcast #84.)
Have a great weekend, everybody!
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[Tactics and Tactility is our column about the feelings, details and pleasures of tabletop gaming. This week we’re looking at Songbirds, and nasty little puzzles.]
Ava: There’s a specific sort of puzzle that takes you by surprise. You hear some rules, you start making gentle moves, pushing towards one path or another, placing pieces, making choices.
Then things start to tighten. The points and the prize and the folks sat beside you suddenly crowding in. Everything matters.
And it’s only going to get harder.
Songbirds is a beautifully sweet game of finding your favourite bird and hoping it’s eaten the most berries.
Except actually, Songbirds is a ruthlessly cruel game about second guessing, outmaneuvering, and slowly being left with no options whatsoever.
Read moreTactics and Tactility #3 – Songbirds’ Pretty Little Vice
Kylie: Inuit: The Snow Folk is a deeply alluring card-drafting strategy game that sees 2-4 players vying for the title of the greatest leader of the Snow Folk.
First up, let me take you on a tour of the rules. Inuit is a breath of fresh air as far as rules go – it’s incredibly simple. On your turn you’re going to draw a card from the deck and place it face up in the middle of the table. This communal area is known as the Great White.
You can then optionally turn over some more cards before finally choosing to take one or more of the face up cards and putting them in the relevant space on your player board. The game ends when the polar nightfall card is drawn from the deck and whoever scores the most points wins.
That’s it. Rules tour is done. Phew!
Ben: Oh jeez, I’m introducing the news. Please don’t let me break anything. They never let the intern pilot the Enterprise.
Ava: Luke Skywalker was basically an intern when he got a pop on an X-Wing, and he blew up an entire ‘that’s no moon’. Dream big, Ben! Blow something up!
Ben: Hello! It’s time for some gaming news! If you’re ready for it, great, if not let me know and I will tip you out of bed and shout news in your face until you’ve had your fill or I get tired.
Ava: That’s the spirit!
This week, our series on the best games that you can play with a 52 card deck gets violent.
Egyptian Ratscrew plays a lot like Jungle Speed, except with more fire. Literally. This is the first game that SU&SD has covered with a greater than zero chance of ending in flames. Also, huge thanks to Gnalistair on YouTube for pointing out that the game gets even better if you require players to first slap their forehead before slapping the table.
If you like the look of the Carte Rouge puzzle deck in this video, the Kickstarter is right here.
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In this episode, Matt, Quinns and Ben report live from a secret hideout. Matt’s been breaking the rules of Gloomhaven (discussed at 26:54) while Quinns has been ignoring the laws of new, superb expansion Bunny Kingdom: In the Sky (50:12), and the cops could bust them at any moment.
The group also discuss the bizarre Undo games (02:56), the video game-inspired Super Motherload (10:05), the delightfully three-dimensional ShipShape (20:42), the wild grasping of Lords of Hellas (36:20) and the disappointment of Cerberus (48:02).
Thanks to our amazing community, podcast transcripts are available here, and are usually completed within a week of the podcast’s release.
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Quinns: Sorry I’m late to the doc, Ava. I put too many news-chillies on my news-pizza last night, and it has caused problems with my ability to use the news-toilet.
Ava: Hey! Adding the word news to everything is MY thing. Let me make you some news-peppermint tea, while you decide if you need any news-ointment for your poor, spicy news-bum.
Quinns: I thought I’d put you on the back foot by talking about my body, but I just feel like I’ve opened Pandora’s Box. Which isn’t the only thing that’s been opened this morning, let me tell you.
Ava: THAT’S ENOUGH OF THAT! TO THE NEWS.
At long last, the final instalment of SU&SD’s “Worm Series” is here. Today, what began with Matt’s Silk review now reaches its dramatic conclusion.
In other, less important news of people waiting a long time, after a wait of 30 years the legendary Dune board game is again being made available. But have the years been kind to this game? Is it still a classic? And how long will Quinns be able to go before recommending Jodorowsky’s Dune?
Have a fantastic weekend, everybody.
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[Every two weeks, Tactics & Tactility explores the culture and magic of tabletop. To read more, check out the series’ archives or Ava’s original Tactics & Tactility blog.]
Ava: Some games begin with a ritual. An incantation of instructions that call forth the playing field.
Some games have an exchange of secrets. Something hidden. Choices to be made, information shared, and not with everyone, not by everyone.
When this happens, we do something incredibly simple, incredibly mundane. It’s an unusual enough social ritual that it brings magic, uncertainty, dread and wonder.
Sometimes, when we play games, we close our eyes.
I’m playing Just One, at the local pub, and it’s my turn to be led towards a particular clue with the help of the other players. I pull a card, call out a number, and wait while everyone thinks and scribbles. When everyone’s ready, I close my eyes…