Vox Republica 127: This Funny Dude From Poland
10/06/16 • 77 min
Length: 1:17:11
Show Links: RSS | iTunes | Stitcher | Download Episode
Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast!
We post new episodes every other Thursday, with each episode being about 45 minutes long.
Vox Republica is proudly supported by our Patreon. Consider contributing today!
DESCRIPTION: This week we return from our fall mini-break refreshed and ready to go. We start off by chatting about a small handful of the many games played recently, chat about our recent past and future convention plans, and then sit down with Ignacy Trzewiczek, head of Portal Games, to talk about the processes he goes through when designing games.
GUESTS: Ignacy Trzewiczek
RECENTLY PLAYED GAMES - (01:49):
- Clank! by Renegade Game Studios & Dire Wolf Digital
- Inis by Asmodee Editions / Matagot
- The Guardians: Explore by Reihon Games
- Roll Player by Thunderworks Games
QUICK TOPICS - (26:06):
- We chat about the next Granite Game Summit in a few weeks - Halloween Edition. If you're in the area, consider coming on down!
- Ryan explains The Pantheon of Meeples.
- Oh, and there's our first meeting of Board Game Club!
- We recap some of the highlights from the 2016 Boston Festival of Indie Games, including memorable games and our presentation of one of the Figgie awards.
FEATURED TOPIC - (38:32):
- With a dozen or so memorable, well-received games under its belt and a self-assured designer at the helm, it's crazy to think that Portal Games is less than a decade old. The biggest reason for their success rests with the fundamental design philosophy of Ignacy Trzewiczek that board games should be an experience when played. He's stated numerous times in public and on his own blog the importance of this focus in everything they create. Today we sit down with him to go into that idea in more detail, include areas like:
- How important Robinson Crusoe was to Portal's initial success and instant reputation.
- Why theme for him always comes before mechanics.
- And where that philosophy came from
- The purpose of his Board Games That Tell Stories blog
- Both his first and second books emerged from it
- How his background in GMing RPGs influenced First Martians
- Why he keeps a journal on most games he play
- What his two most influential games are on his design process
PLUGS - (1:16:16):
- To celebrate Ignacy's participation and the Halloween season, we're raffling off a copy of Tides of Madness to a lucky Patreon backer. Consider donating today!
- As always, Cardboard Republic YouTube videos, Instagram pictures, and the BGG Guild are still ongoing. Subscribe to either - or both if you really love us. You do really love us, right?
We’d love to hear from you! You can send questions or feedback via email at [email protected]. You can also reach us s...
Length: 1:17:11
Show Links: RSS | iTunes | Stitcher | Download Episode
Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast!
We post new episodes every other Thursday, with each episode being about 45 minutes long.
Vox Republica is proudly supported by our Patreon. Consider contributing today!
DESCRIPTION: This week we return from our fall mini-break refreshed and ready to go. We start off by chatting about a small handful of the many games played recently, chat about our recent past and future convention plans, and then sit down with Ignacy Trzewiczek, head of Portal Games, to talk about the processes he goes through when designing games.
GUESTS: Ignacy Trzewiczek
RECENTLY PLAYED GAMES - (01:49):
- Clank! by Renegade Game Studios & Dire Wolf Digital
- Inis by Asmodee Editions / Matagot
- The Guardians: Explore by Reihon Games
- Roll Player by Thunderworks Games
QUICK TOPICS - (26:06):
- We chat about the next Granite Game Summit in a few weeks - Halloween Edition. If you're in the area, consider coming on down!
- Ryan explains The Pantheon of Meeples.
- Oh, and there's our first meeting of Board Game Club!
- We recap some of the highlights from the 2016 Boston Festival of Indie Games, including memorable games and our presentation of one of the Figgie awards.
FEATURED TOPIC - (38:32):
- With a dozen or so memorable, well-received games under its belt and a self-assured designer at the helm, it's crazy to think that Portal Games is less than a decade old. The biggest reason for their success rests with the fundamental design philosophy of Ignacy Trzewiczek that board games should be an experience when played. He's stated numerous times in public and on his own blog the importance of this focus in everything they create. Today we sit down with him to go into that idea in more detail, include areas like:
- How important Robinson Crusoe was to Portal's initial success and instant reputation.
- Why theme for him always comes before mechanics.
- And where that philosophy came from
- The purpose of his Board Games That Tell Stories blog
- Both his first and second books emerged from it
- How his background in GMing RPGs influenced First Martians
- Why he keeps a journal on most games he play
- What his two most influential games are on his design process
PLUGS - (1:16:16):
- To celebrate Ignacy's participation and the Halloween season, we're raffling off a copy of Tides of Madness to a lucky Patreon backer. Consider donating today!
- As always, Cardboard Republic YouTube videos, Instagram pictures, and the BGG Guild are still ongoing. Subscribe to either - or both if you really love us. You do really love us, right?
We’d love to hear from you! You can send questions or feedback via email at [email protected]. You can also reach us s...
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Vox Republica 126: The Art Of The [Preorder] Deal
Episode 126: The Art Of The [Preorder] Deal
Length: 1:03:20
Show Links: RSS | iTunes | Stitcher | Download Episode
Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast!
We post new episodes every other Thursday, with each episode being about 45 minutes long.
Vox Republica is proudly supported by our Patreon. Consider contributing today!
DESCRIPTION: Attempting to get back to a normal length podcast after August's heavier episodes, this week Erin and Ryan talk about some recent Patreon happenings - including an announcement about it - and then they dive into a discussion on how much you need to know about a game before you order it. After that, the days is rounded out by a review of Avalanche at Yeti Mountain.
GUEST: None
RECENTLY PLAYED GAMES - (01:43):
- Codenames: Pictures by Czech Games Edition
- Looting Atlantis by Shoot Again Games
- Prospectus by Mr. B Games
- Discoveries by Ludonaute / Asmodee Editions
QUICK TOPICS - (24:12):
- We chat about a couple of our recent Patreon happenings, including our past milestone goal progress and our plans for the next one.
FEATURED TOPIC – (27:08):
- How much do you need to know about a game before you buy it? With Essen approaching, it's not uncommon for people to purchase games from limited markets with little or no information about them. We ponder some of the implications of this approach including:
- The scale from impulse purchasing to meticulous research, and how there's room for both
- Why sometimes it can be difficult to do research ahead of purchasing it
- How do preorders fit into one's game planning?
- Where impulse buying really thrives
REVIEW - (41:33):
- Avalanche at Yeti Mountain is the latest title from Green Couch Games, a company who focuses on engaging little games that are visually appealing and as portable as they are easy to teach. In this snow-capped expedition for 1-5 players, a number of crazy engineering students decided that what skis were really missing to make them ultra cool were rocket boosters. So they went out and made some. Unfortunately, all of the rocket noise from their testing has attracted the wrong kind of attention, both in the form of the mountain's resident yeti, and a pending avalanche. Your goal is to either be the first one to the bottom of the hill by playing a card each round to speed yourself along, or simply being the last one to survive the avalanche. It's a quick and chaotic game with an amusing premise, but we look at whether that's enough.
(Note: if you don't see pictures below, you can view them via the RSS feed or clicking this link.)
The rocket ski card for the Purple..er..Yellow...er...Green player? With the card played matching their space, Purple can activate their rockets to leap ahead and still move four spaces The various cards found on Yeti Mountain Yellow has made an unexpected friend this turn It's all downhill from here The avalanche is about to spell the end for OrangeNext Episode
Vox Republica 128: America & Atmosphere
Episode 128: America & Atmosphere
Length: 59:26
Show Links: RSS | iTunes | Stitcher | Download Episode
Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast!
We post new episodes every other Thursday, with each episode being about 45 minutes long.
Vox Republica is proudly supported by our Patreon. Consider contributing today!
DESCRIPTION: It's October, which means Halloween! Which means spooky things! Which brings us to the idea of gaming atmosphere. Why is it that exactly that board games struggle so hard to generate feelings of dread? What makes this medium, as opposed to movies, books, and even RPGs, so much more difficult? This week, Erin and Ryan parse over the possibilities behind it. Then, they venture back to the early American Frontier with a review of the dice allocation game Discoveries.
GUEST: None
RECENTLY PLAYED GAMES - (01:39):
- Strife: Shadows & Steam by V3G
- Ahead in the Clouds by Button Shy Games
- Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation by Fantasy Flight Games
FEATURED TOPIC – (13:15):
- It's rare for a horror themed game to make you feel afraid, upset, or otherwise creeped out. Why is it that board games as a form of entertainment fare so much better at causing that to happen as opposed to movies, TV, or even classic RPGs? Some things we discuss to that end include:
- What is it about them inherently makes this difficult
- The difficulty of being surprised when you know what can happen
- Outside influences such as lighting, music, and even scents can help set the mood
- How whole genres of board games avoid theme as a primary goal to begin with
- How app-enabled games may help going forward
QUICK TOPICS - (22:59):
- Erin makes an announcement about her participation in a new positive launching soon that'll focus on the positive things board gaming offers.
REVIEW - (25:35):
- Discoveries is a 2015 dice placement and dice manipulation game by Ludonaute & Asmodee Editions. Designed to be a lighter experience to their heftier title Lewis & Clark while maintaining a similar theme, this game does exactly that. In this dice rolling adventure, each player is a member of the famed Lewis & Clark Expedition. Their goal was to venture across the American Frontier through unexplored lands (to the Europeans anyway) and take note of everything they experienced, from the plants and animals, to interactions with the various American Indian tribes, to mapping out the land itself. This is represented by each player having access to a handful of resource dice that are rolled periodically. Through a series of turns, players allocate dice results to different actions as a means of befriending tribes as to claim their cards for more powerful action abilities, and / or complete journal cards to score VP. The goal is to essentially have the most complete (i.e. valuable) journal at the end of the game. With excellent artwork, simple rules, and a uncommon theme, Discoveries does a decent job conveying this game's purpose. That said, as we explore it, it's evident that much like the Expedition, Discoveries runs into its own share of obstacles.
(Note: if you don't see pictures below, you can view them via the RSS feed or clicking this link.)
The initial board layout The four possible die face results A pair of possible American Indian cards that can be acquiredIf you like this episode you’ll love
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