

Space Cats Peace Turtles
Matt Martens and Hunter Donaldson
An unofficial podcast for fans of Twilight Imperium and other strategy board games. Each episode is a humorous analysis of mechanics and strategies for new and experienced players alike!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 23, 2018 • 60min
Ep 054: Whispers and Secret Conversations
Shh! There are many secrets in this episode. This week, Matt and Hunter discuss the value of secret, backdoor politicking in Twilight Imperium, and the different amounts of whispering that seem acceptable within the community. Looking for more feedback on this discussion, so be sure give your thoughts!
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com

Oct 16, 2018 • 1h 2min
Ep 053: Tabletop Simulator
Today’s episode is a bit of a stranger topic. But with the Patreon tournament more on our mind, we felt it was best to talk a little bit about the benefits and pitfalls of playing on Tabletop Simulator. We’re hoping this episode sparks more discussion from TTS experts in the community that we can follow up on next week. After our TTS discussion is errata for Tech Skips.
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com

Oct 9, 2018 • 1h 48min
Ep 052: Tech Skips
While tech paths are still topical, Matt and Hunter decided to sit down and talk about planets with Tech Specialties, otherwise known as Tech Skips. They break down the different planets themselves, the best techs to skip, and how this impacts different factions' tech paths. After that is errata for the “Always and Nevers” episode from last week.
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com

Oct 2, 2018 • 1h 45min
Ep 051: The Always and Nevers of Twilight Imperium
It’s time for an episode decided on by the Galactic Council! The “Always and Nevers” of Twilight Imperium is our list of somewhat absolutes players should consider when playing. None of this is actually absolute, and there is no such thing as always and no such thing as never. Unless we’re talking about Stymie. Then "Not Even Once..."
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com

Sep 28, 2018 • 53min
Ep 050: Being Salty
Sorry for the late show this week! While Matt was traveling across most of the United States, Hunter sat down with other close friends and discussed getting mad in games of Twilight Imperium. TI has a special ability to get players emotionally involved, and often that leads to explosive results.
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com

Sep 18, 2018 • 1h 16min
Ep 049: One Year & Tournament Patreon 2.0
It’s our Ding Dang Ol’ Birthday! So it’s time to celebrate. To do so, we’re going to set the strategy and theory-crafting aside, and instead discuss our plans for year two and onward. We’re shifting the focus of the Patreon to primarily revolve around tournament and league play, and so today we break down what a lot of that means for you. We’re very excited to try more tournaments and have a lot of ideas that will require a lot of playtesting, so join us on this adventure, won’t you?
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com

Sep 11, 2018 • 1h 21min
Ep 048: Tech Paths Part 3
It’s time to finish the fight! This week we complete the trilogy of Optimal Tech Path discussion. This episode is defined by some of the more difficult to pin down factions and leads to some more open ended ideas of what is truly optimal.
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com

Sep 4, 2018 • 1h
Ep 047: Our First 14 Point Game
We’re putting off Tech Paths Part 3 this week because we just streamed our very first 14 point game, and there is simple too much to talk about while we still have it on our minds. This won’t be an in depth analysis of 14 point games at large, but instead a breakdown of the game we played and our first reactions to the differences between 10 points and 14 points. This game is available on our YouTube to watch, so if you want to see it first, THEN hear our reactions, go check it out!
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com

Aug 28, 2018 • 1h 8min
Ep 046: Tech Paths Part 2
Hey look! It’s just what you asked for! It’s more discussions on Tech Paths. This week we cover six more factions Optimal Tech Paths, and breakdown alternatives to those paths. We’ve got five more to go, so looks like there will be a part three!!
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com

Aug 20, 2018 • 1h 46min
Ep 045: Tech Paths Part 1
This week marks the first item on our list of topics Matt and Hunter are revisiting and re-examining. Tech hasn’t been covered extensively since Ep 004, and we’ve learned a lot about the game since then. So, in looking closer, we decided to focus on the importance of Optimal Tech Paths in TI4, and what that looks like for different factions. Stay tuned, because next week we’ll continue this conversation and look at the rest of the factions’ tech paths.
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com