So Very Wrong About Games

Today is a telling day in the annals of SVWAG, especially with respect to Mark coming to terms with his own essential wrongness. He gets to partially repent for his tonal excesses with respect to the AYURIS; he gets to mull over painful loves lost in Billionaire Banshee; and he gets to realize that once again that while Walker cares deeply about people, he cares mostly about stuffing his face and listening to loud music. Things get real.AYURIS: Champions of Midgard 1m47s (Ole Steiness, Grey Fox Games, 2015)Games Played Last Week: -Die fiesen 7 4m03s (Jacques Zeimet, Drei Hasen in der Abendsonne, 2015)-Factory Funner 6m17s (Corné van Moorsel, Cwali, 2016)-Swordcrafters 7m15s (Ryan Lambert, Chris Neuman, & Adam Rehberg, Adam's Apple Games, 2018)-Formula D 8m48s (Laurent Lavaur & Eric Randall, Asmodee, 2008)-Billionaire Banshee 10m26s (Steven “Razlo” Bailey, Breaking Games, 2014)-Quadropolis 13m20s (François Gandon, Days of Wonder, 2016)-Vengeance 14m05s (Gordon Calleja, Mighty Boards, 2018)-Race for the Galaxy: The Brink of War 15m35s (Thomas Lehmann, Rio Grande Games, 2010)News (and why it doesn't matter)-Carnival Zombie 2nd ed. finally shambles out of development limbo 17m28s-Vicious, adorable creatures in Crumbs 19m03s-Golden Geek Awards voting over 20m24s-Bus reprint by Capstone 21m05sFeature Game: Calimala 22m19s (Fabio Lopiano, ADC Blackfire Entertainment GmbH, 2017)Topic: Gaming Ambiance 43m35sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

HATE has landed, and you can't have it. CMON's dalliances with Kickstarter exclusives have been numerous, but now they have their first Kickstarter-exclusive game. We review it not to taunt you with things you can't acquire, but rather to give you the vicarious thrill of someone who can have everything. Let your imagination whisk you away to a universe that is all plastic cannibalistic hardcases! AYURIS: Battlelore 2nd Edition 2m14s (Richard Borg & Robert A. Kouba, FFG, 2013)Games Played Last Week: -Root 4m39s (Cole Wehrle, Leder Games, 2018)-Gùgōng 6m37s (Andreas Steding, Game Brewer, 2018)-Blood Rage 8m36s (Eric M. Lang, CMON, 2015)-Die fiesen 7 10m34s (Jacques Zeimet, Drei Hasen in der Abendsonne, 2015)-Calimala 11m33s (Fabio Lopiano, ADC Blackfire Entertainment GmbH, 2017)-Hansa Teutonica 13m11s (Andreas Steding, Argentum Verlag, 2010)-Amun-Re: The Card Game 13m54s (Reiner Knizia, Super Meeple, 2017)-Agricola 15m45s (Uwe Rosenberg, Lookout Games, 2007)-Hanabi 18m25s (Antoine Bauza, ABACUSSPIELE, 2010)News (and why it doesn't matter)-Bauza has sequels for Ghost Stories and Tokaido 20m21s-Asmodee will distribute CMON post-Kickstarter 21m37s-The OP lands Die Hard license 22m57s-Walker falls for Aquicorn Cove's stunning visuals 24m48s -...and for Fuji Koro 25m12sFeature Game: HATE 25m50s (Raphaël Guiton, Jean-Baptiste Lullien, Alexandru Olteanu, & Nicolas Raoult, CMON, 2019)Topic: Needing to Know the Deck 50m01sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As my father is wont to say, "Accept credit, pass blame." Actually, no, I said that, and it's my father's fault that I forgot the correct attribution. Is that how that works? At any rate, we here at SVWAG are always happy to claim responsibility for all positive developments. When and if peace breaks out anywhere, we will assert it is our doing based merely on this aside. Such is the power of our episode notes and our self-aggrandizement!AYURIS: The World of SMOG: Rise of Moloch 2m08s (Fel Barros, Christophe Madura, Alexandru Olteanu, David Rakoto, & Michael Shinall, CMON, 2018)Games Played Last Week: -Barony 4m51s (Marc André, Matagot, 2015)-Millennium Blades 5m37s (D. Brad Talton, Level 99 Games, 2016)-Santorini 7m32s (Gord!, Roxley, 2016)-Space Base 8m37s (John D. Clair, AEG, 2018)-Scythe 11m43s (Jamey Stegmaier, Stonemaier Games, 2016-Obsession 13m17s (Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games, 2018)-Caverna: The Forgotten Folk 16m20s (Uwe Rosenberg & Alex Wilber, Lookout Games, 2018)-Claustrophobia: 1642 (Croc & Laurent Pouchain, Monolith, 2019)News (and why it doesn't matter)-Mild Patreon Shilling 23m34s-Peace during the Age of Steam 24m09s-Dune is back. Insert reference here. 25m36s -Sneak Breakout preview 28m35sFeature Game: XenoShyft: Onslaught 29m12s (Keren Philosophales & Michael Shinall, CMON, 2015) and Dreadmire (Michael Shinall, CMON, 2017)Topic: 1 vs. All vs. Coop vs. Semi-Coop vs. Vs. 53m54sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Currencies drive many things, perhaps most things. HATE is driven by a currency called Savagery, which I believe is floated on the international market and its exchange rate fluctuates daily. We here at So Very Wrong About Games fuel our episodes with Snark, which is pegged conveniently to the Canadian Dollar. As a consequence, when some of you might be tempted to correct Mark on the name of the 1987 Richard Halliwell design ("um, actually, it's Block Mania, not Block Panic"), you are only making them stronger.AYURIS: Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire (David Sanders, Games Workshop, 2017) 1m54sGames Played Last Week: -HATE 4m34s (Raphaël Guiton, Jean-Baptiste Lullien, Alexandru Olteanu, & Nicolas Raoult, CMON, 2019)-Climb! 7m08s (Benoit Michaud, Le Scorpion Masqué, 2008)-Siege of the Citadel 9m32s (Richard Borg, Eric M. Lang, Jason Little, & Kevin Wilson, Modiphius Entertainment, 2019)-Goodcritters 11m45s (Fabian Zimmermann, Arcane Wonders, 2018)-Teotihuacan: City of Gods 14m43s (Daniele Tascini, NSKN Games, 2018)-Infinity 15m20s (Gutier Lusquiños Rodríguez, Corvus Belli, 2005)-Pax Pamir 17m25s (Phil Eklund & Cole Wehrle, Sierra Madre Games, 2015)-Obsession 21m35s (Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games, 2018)News (and why it doesn't matter)-The Talisman nightmare has started: Batman and Kingdom Hearts 25m34s-It, and I can't even 26m43s-Worst expansion title competition 27m30s-Judge Dredd enters the Wildlands 28m57s-Restoring Epic Duels 30m09s-Age of Steam boils over. Again. 31m49sFeature Game: Concordia (Mac Gerdts, PD-Verlag, 2013) and Concordia Venus (2018) 34m14sTopic: Spending Money on the Hobby: Are You Getting Your Money's Worth? 1h01m43sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You do you, Walker always says, except he almost never does. Mark always says smoke 'em if you got 'em, despite his never uttering those words and frankly not knowing what they mean. He tried smoking once and didn't enjoy it. Why care about such petty things as truth or data when it feels consistent with a narrative you're peddling? Echoes of contemporary politics abound, as we ponder whether a game needs to be balanced so long as it tells a good tale.AYURIS: Rising Sun (Eric Lang, CMON, 2018) 5m26sGames Played Last Week: -Cerebria: The Inside World 8m57s (Richard Amann, Viktor Peter, István Pócsi, Frigyes Schőberl, Nick Shaw, & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2018)-Teotihuacan: City of Gods 11m22s (Daniele Tascini, NSKN Games, 2018)-Spirit Island 12m10s (R. Eric Reuss, Greater Than Games, 2017)-Tajemnicze Domostwo/Mysterium 15m24s (Oleksandr Nevskiy & Oleg Sidorenko, Portal Games, 2013)-Millennium Blades 19m11s (D. Brad Talton Jr., Level 99 Games, 2016)-Shadowrift 21m11s (Jeremy Anderson, Game Salute, 2012)-Donning the Purple 24m54s (Petter Schanke Olsen, Tompet Games, 2018)News (and why it doesn't matter)-Hanabi deluxe blows up again 27m32s-Dice Forge rebels 28m45s-Capstone gauges Winsome's Irish Gauge 29m09s-Sailor Moon deceives...? 31m00s-White Goblin will Yoko no mo 32m04sFeature Game: A Feast for Odin: The Norwegians 33m37s (Gernot Köpke & Uwe Rosenberg, Feuerland Spiele, 2018)Topic: Theme vs. Balance 59m35sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Peter Principle observes that people tend to get promoted to their level of incompetence. Namely if someone does a job well, they'll be promoted, until such time as they cease doing a job well and persist at that level of ineptitude. We mention this not because it accurately describes the arc of Mark's life both professionally and personally--which, let's face it, it does--but rather because we have decided to promote the AYURIS from off-hand remark into Full Fledged Segment (AYURIS, FFS [tm]). Time stamp and everything! If it does well, it'll get it's own podcast; if it does poorly, all hail the Peter Principle.AYURIS: 51st State: Master Set (Ignacy Trzewiczek, Portal, 2016) 1m31sGames Played Last Week: -Kingdom Death: Monster 5m28s (Adam Poots, Kingdom Death, 2015)-Reykholt 9m02s (Uwe Rosenberg, Frosted Games, 2018)-Bargain Hunter 15m35s (Uwe Rosenberg, Valley Games, 1998)-Meltwater: A Game of Tactical Starvation 17m34s (Erin Lee Escobedo, Hollandspiele, 2018)News (and why it doesn't matter)-The Orville Clix 19m34s-Samuel Bailey's Stars a little less Forbidden 19m59s-Samuel Bailey digs Deep 21m17s-Rooting around for more factions 22m22s-KeyForging on 22m46s-Being on the same Wavelength 23m14s-Even deeper Descent 24m31s-Rushing into the Kingdom of boardgames of apps 25m19sFeature Game: Cerebria: The Inside World 25m58s (Richard Amann, Viktor Peter, István Pócsi, Frigyes Schőberl, Nick Shaw, & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2018)Topic: Hype 54m39sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sometimes categories are useful taxonomical tools, and sometimes they are so blunt as to be confusing and unhelpful. What gets parsed as "worker placement" can get downright murky at times. To Walker, though, the world is clear and simple. Tolstoy tells us that "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Walker has a modified view--all fun games are fun and thus good and interchangeable, and all unfun games are bad and thus the same. It's a good thing he's not a critic or anything.Games Played Last Week: -Welcome to... 3m47s (Benoit Turpin, Blue Cocker Games, 2018)-A Feast for Odin: The Norwegians 6m19s (Gernot Köpke & Uwe Rosenberg, Feuerland Spiele, 2018)-Architects of the West Kingdom 9m55s (Shem Phillips & S. J. Macdonald, Garphill Games, 2018)-Byzantium 16m06s (Martin Wallace, Warfrog, 2005)News (and why it doesn't matter)-Sushi Go Rolls on 20m13s-New Quest for El Dorado? Expansion? Hybrid? 21m21s-Scotland Yard: Now with dice, uncertain haberdashery 22m25s-Who wants to license Talisman? 22m59s-Ignorance is Bliss 24m36s-Time for more T.I.M.E. Stories 24m55sFeature Game: Core Worlds 26m47s (Andrew Parks, Stronghold, 2011)Topic: OOP Games that Should Be Reprinted 51m26Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just as we are told that it's always five o'clock somewhere, we can be assured that Mark and Walker are always wrong somewhere. Time marches inexorably forward, and we mark that passage of time by checking in with the much-loved Quartermaster General series. Mark would happily tell you that time is nothing more and nothing less than a priori intuition, which when internalized allows us to ground the science of mathematics--and then Walker would rightfully point out that it's time for Mark to shut up.Games Played Last Week: -Menara 3m01s (Oliver Richtberg, Zoch Spiele, 2018)-Massive Darkness 5m18s (Raphaël Guiton, Jean-Baptiste Lullien & Nicolas Raoult, CMON, 2017)-Sentinels of the Multiverse 8m13s (Christopher Badell, Paul Bender, & Adam Rebottaro, Greater than Games, 2011)-Millennium Blades 10m20s (D. Brad Talton, Jr., Level 99 Games, 2016)-Kitchen Rush 12m17s (Vangelis Bagiartakis & Dávid Turczi, Artipia, 2017)News (and why it doesn't matter)-Quartermaster General (WWII) re-(quarter)mastered 15m22s-alea games joins a euro publishing revival 16m12s-Mystic Vale Steams up 17m27s-Plan B Games in a new Era from Matt Leacock 18m39s-Role-play as a Sentinel of the Multiverse 20m23sFeature Game: Quartermaster General: The Cold War 22m11s (Ian Brody, PSC Games, 2018)Topic: Real-Time Games 49m59sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sometimes our hosts can't quite understand what the situation demands of them. Walker has been known to approach thoughtful, deliberative games with the oft-repeated demand of "when do I get to shoot LEMME SHOOT." Mark tends to greet new acquaintances with profanity-laden assaults on their life choices, hygiene, and character. These traits perhaps serve to explain how they find themselves in the social circles that they do.Games Played Last Week: -The Quacks of Quedlingburg 2m37s (Wolfgang Warsch, North Star Games, 2018)-Brass: Birmingham 5m18s (Gavan Brown, Matt Tolman, & Martin Wallace, Roxley, 2018)-In the Shadow of the Emperor 8m29s (Ralf Burkert, Rio Grande Games, 2004)-Kemet: Seth 11m09s (Jacques Bariot & Guillaume Montiage, Matagot, 2018)-Gaslands 15m39s (Glenn Ford & Mike Hutchinson, Osprey Publishing, 2017)News (and why it doesn't matter)-Portal 2019: Roll & write, Neuroshima Hex! 16m58s-Restoring Conspiracy 17m50s-Build with ice (the Canadian currency) in Tuki 19m19s-Mark takes credit for Iwari 20m05s-New pain to Discover 21m52s-Rooting for new factions in Root 22m37s-Jim Henson's Labyrinth gets proportionally less Bowie 23m02s-How many Odysseys? Want 1001 of them? 23m58sFeature Game: Talon 26m11s (Jim Krohn, GMT, 2016) and Talon 1000 (Jim Krohn, GMT, 2018)Topic: Table Talk 53m51sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We take endorsements very seriously here at SVWAG. The Ferragamo deal fell through after Walker was seen wearing Fendi, and the whole Burberry fiasco is better left forgotten. Converse was our backup, but suffice to say after Mark's public comments about sportsball that seems like a distant possibility at best.All that said, we endorse Gloomy Companion unreservedly. We don't resort to apps very often, but we don't Gloomhaven without Gloomy Companion employed on a tablet. We've tried others but it suits us the best.Games Played Last Week: -Mombasa 3m14s (Alexander Pfister, eggertspiele, 2015)-Decrypto 5m28s (Thomas Dagenais-Lespérance, Le Scorpion Masqué, 2018)-Han 6m57s(Michael Schacht, ABACUSSPIELE, 2014)-Sakura Arms 7m55s (BakaFire, AEG, 2016)-Kitchen Rush 10m08s (Vangelis Bagiartakis & Dávid Turczi, Artipia, 2017)-Chinatown 10m36s (Karsten Hartwig, Z-Man, 1999)-Eclipse 13m14s (Touko Tahkokallio, Lautapelit.fi, 2011)News (and why it doesn't matter)-Frontier Wars 15m34s-Rio Grande is back? 15m59s-The Galaxy Rolls on 16m55s-35 years of BattleTech 18m08s-Official statement on pronunciation 18m48sFeature Game: Gloomhaven 20m46s (Isaac Childres, Cephalofair Games, 2017)Topic: How Much Can a Game Demand of Its Players? 48m38sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices