Get Into Games On Air: Getting into games.
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Transcript
Hello and welcome to Get into Games on Air, a podcast about board games and the people who play them. My name, as always, is Craig and joining me is some peanut butter and jelly munch, but other than that, it's Becky.
Hello.
Hello.
You okay?
I'm fine.
It's a bit chilly.
It's cold. There's been an inch of snow. Not even an inch, actually. Half an inch, if that, of snow. ice
and a smattering of ice. So the UK is on lockdown.
We can't set foot outside without slippering. Slippering.
Slippering.
The government don't have enough money to do any grittering. So we slide around the roads on our inch of snow, half inch of snow and ice,
2 cm
to our demise. Um yeah. So um hello, welcome back to the channel. This isn't a channel. Welcome back to the show. I hope you're all doing well. Um, I'll wait for you to respond.
Wow. You could be waiting days
probably. This is episode 63. Accessible board gaming. Something like that. That's a nice title, isn't it?
Yeah.
Board games are fun for everyone, aren't they?
They are.
And in this episode, we're going to be talking about how they can be fun. Whether you're playing with non-gamers, whether you're playing party games, whether you're playing with the olds, whether you're playing with the relatives, whether you're playing with children, whether you're playing with seasoned professional gamers, um, and how some games are seemingly complex until someone teaches you the way, or someone can get into the theme so you can really enjoy board games.
The PJ effect. The PJ effect is what? Running rampant. So, we're going to have a discussion about that. And we're also going to have our first ever board game. Mot sounded more epic than it was. So, um, what you drinking, Craig?
Oh, I'm glad you asked. I'm having a delightful cup of undying underground from Lucky Leaf Teas. It is a a lovely loose tea. We got
black tea.
We got this at UK Games Expo.
We did
um from Lucky Leaf Tees, which was a fantastic little stall. This tea has black tea. It says pura. I don't know what that is. cocoa beans, green coffee beans, ground coffee, chamomile, and natural flavors. Organic compliment.
It's um it's a very smokeoky tea.
M it is. It's like a napong,
but um yeah,
very nice.
This is lovely.
Arianne, the founder of Lucky Leaf Te,
yes,
is lovely to speak to. And if you're looking to buy tea, but you're not sure which ones to buy, you can find uh them on um Instagram and I'm sure they will point you in the right direction.
So,
it is delicious. Cheers, world.
So, we've got the mic with that.
We've got some, as you said, peanut butter and jelly munch from M&S.
Oh, yes. Peanut butter and jelly munch are available. If you don't know what the peanut butter and jelly munch is, it's basically a big tin and it's got pretzels and like uh honeycomb bites and some jellies and some Smarties and some white chocolate crisp things and um
there's caramel peanuts.
There's peanut butter cups. There's all sorts of good stuff inside that tin. Um and uh yeah, I don't know what's happening there, but that's that's what's happening on the podcast. We're drinking tea, having peanut butter and jelly munch, and just having a chat. Just having a chat.
Well, while you're having a cup of tea, would you like to play a game?
I would love to play a game.
Okay. So, this game, you have to guess the game.
Well, this is the game we always play. You're trying to explain to me what the game is.
What if someone had just tuned into this episode?
Hello.
I'm going to give you five words.
Yes. You're going to give me five words,
and you're going to have to guess what the game is.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. Cards. Oh,
cards. Now, this is a challenge. This is the first time you've ever mentioned cards as the first clue.
Stomp the plank.
No.
Order.
Sorry.
Order.
Order.
Order.
The cards are in a specific order.
Uh, that would be uh Star Wars Unlimited Intro Battle Hoth.
No, that's very specific. I feel like I wouldn't be Kana Gateway Intro Battle Orcana.
No.
The Pokemon Battle Academy intro Battle Academy.
You've had your guess. That's it. No more guesses.
I'm sorry.
Hidden.
Hidden. Ooh.
Hidden. Like hidden movement. Like hidden. You have cards that they're hidden and then you play the card and you go Libertalia.
No. I'm doing better than last week though cuz you got it straight.
Well, there's three there. So that could be Libertalia or Valbara.
No.
Or the Nugget Gold game that's new that's not out yet.
No. Move.
Move.
Move.
Move.
Cards hidden
order. Move.
Battle.
No.
No. Not the intro one. The other one.
No.
Cuz you have cards.
No.
They're hidden.
No.
You move.
No.
And you do a big battle of Hoth.
No. A big Star War.
No.
Rebellion.
The next word. Last word.
I don't think you're going to get it.
No, probably not.
Steal.
Steal.
Steal.
Steal.
What do you steal from people? Seems
I give you a clue what you steal.
Uh, what do you steal?
Well, you have a guess and then I'll give you a clue what you steal.
Okay. I think it is.
Wow.
Hit the silk.
That No. No, you have to tell the listeners what you just did there.
I did a big yawn.
You just like literally inhaled the air around you,
tucked it in, and then waited and then said what you were going to say. What did you say?
Hit the silk.
No, you steal money bags.
Money bags. Colt Express.
Cult Express.
Colt Express.
So, the words were cards,
order because there's an order to the way. Some of the cards are hidden.
Some of them are. Move along the train. We do and you steal the goods.
Steal money.
I suppose I should have put train in there, but
choo choo Thomas. Train would have been the good one at the end.
Anyway, if you're looking for co express where you should go.
Ah, yes. Um, to the train station.
No.
To Hold on. I've got this. Not to the train station. If you're looking for Core Express, you should go to Aldi.
No. No. Okay. If you're looking for Cult Express,
can I just
Yeah.
Board game nights are only
Oh, yeah. Board game nights are
Board game nights are only as good as the games you bring to the table. And that's why I always start at boardameist.com. It's a shop built by people who genuinely love the hobby. The kind of place where every title feels handpicked, not just stock. Whether you're hunting for the newest hotness, a family favorite, or that one expansion nobody else seems to carry, they make it easy. Fast shipping, careful packaging, and a selection that actually respects your shelf space. If you want your next game night to hit that perfect stride, head to boardgameist.com and find something worth playing.
That sounded like an ad read.
No.
No.
Yeah.
So, if you use the code get into games, you won't get 5% off on that website.
Yeah, you might.
You might get 5% off on that website if you use code get into games.
It's good, right? So boardgameist.com.
Yeah.
Use the code on checkout. Get into games and you'll get 5% off your money.
Yeah.
Your money or your purchase.
That's like something like an advertisement.
And if you want C Express, you could get it there probably.
Probably. I 100% agree. Think so. Yeah.
Anyway, Dan Dan is lovely. So, you should definitely shop.
That's true. And there's a 10 and then it's the 10th anniversary like Co Express, the big box thing that you can get. That's nice. Nice. And they're doing a new version, aren't they? Tabletop Tycoon are doing it with proper minis and like Everel pimping it up.
Yeah, it looks nice. It does look nice, but that's not going to be available at Board Gamer because it's not out yet. But the normal the other version will get it in when it
there'll be loads of stuff. And if you don't want Cold Express, buy yourself Galactic Cruise or Old King's Crown or something like that.
Okay. So, why are we here today, Craig?
Um, well, because it's a podcast and we do this every every week.
Yeah, but what we talking about? All right, we're going to talk about um accessibility in games. Not necessarily accessibility as such. Um that made sense, didn't it? Not as in how accessible colorlind friendly a board game is, but how how accessible a game is to games night. So depending on who you're playing, cuz basically we had this discussion, didn't we? We we had my mother up for Christmas.
We did.
And she's old.
Rude.
Correct. No. Um, you're rude.
Um, and like she's not always offay with games and um makes cooperative games.
Play many games. You worry about getting things wrong in games.
Yeah. Um, and we Yeah. and we thought we'd talk about some of the games that we found that really work well in a kind of to introduce people into the games and and make an accessible games night
for that reason. So like things like so one of the games we started with
um was katan.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We played that with um with with mother and um our daughter.
Yeah. who is now a like a katana assassin.
Yeah.
Um I've taught her everything I know and now I
she literally says the things like don't swap with daddy.
Yeah.
Don't do that. Don't give him any of those resources.
Yeah.
Only go and build something.
She knows she knows the way. And now um and now that's that. Um, Katan is not a, as you've heard on this podcast before, maybe I have tempered my opinion of K of Katan. Maybe I'm not as negative as I once was about Katan.
I think Katan on BGA is boring.
Yes, but a lot of games on BGA can be boring. I think it that is definitely one that does not translate well [snorts] on the online medium because the whole joy of that game is the interaction between the different players.
Yes.
Um so I definitely think it's one that's better in person.
Yeah.
But it's not one that I would choose to ever play with you normally. I don't
I think it was the perfect game to introduce to your mom because um it's essentially each time you have a turn the same
steps you go through. You roll the dice,
you get some resources, you put the cards together that you've got to build something. So
build it, build if you can, trade if you can, and that's it. In that way, I feel it's quite accessible to everybody,
even new people, because by the time it's been around a few times,
yeah,
you can't fail to grasp what's going on and what you're supposed to do, even if you haven't got a great strategy for doing so.
You you can get what's going on.
Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's it's got an end point. It's you're racing to 10 points. There are ways to get there.
So, you know, it's not going to last forever like Monopoly.
Yeah, exactly. So, there is a there is an there is an end point.
It is the perfect step up from a Monopoly cuz it just move removes
the way more fun than Monopoly.
It is more fun than Monopoly, but that's that's not difficult. Although talking about accessibility in board games, I mean I suppose Monopoly is one of those ones that's like what if you like Monopoly fine I guess but
not that accessible for people who you have to have like some maths skills in Monopoly and
yeah I think
it's not as e it's not as easy for people to get involved in
and and so I was listening to an episode of the Meepleto podcast and um they had the uh PJ had uh Mr. Katan on, not Mr. Katan obviously, but current the current Mr. Katan
and um
Mr. Katan
Mr. Katan. Um Dave Katan.
Is it the the current winner of Katan or the current person who
Mr. the CEO the big boss the CEO
current big boss boss.
His name isn't Mr. Katan, is it?
No, it's it's Sir Katan.
Um
okay. So that's just code for you forgotten his name.
Yeah. So Mr. Tam was on and how he said that he wanted um when someone says they're playing oh we're going to look playing board games and then someone says oh do you mean like katan rather than do you mean like monopoly so that's what they're hoping with katan and it is it's big business it's a good it is a good entry point for a lot of people it's a good entry point for younger gamers as well I think because it's not too strenuous when you get the idea like you said, when you get the idea, you you've got it and it's not it's
I think there's quite a lot of player interaction as well.
Yeah.
I would say so there are games where you play and you're doing your own thing on your board and for people who are new to board games that could be quite isolating because you're literally in charge of your own thing and you don't really interact with anybody else.
Yes.
So that can be quite a lonely experience. Then we might be all having a lovely time because we know how to play the game and we're like oh yeah I've done this that and the other but that person will be sitting there thinking what's going on I'm just in my own little world not really got any understanding the game is happening around me
whereas you're really like all involved.
Yeah
and because you have to swap resources it means that everybody's
like needed in that scenario. So I think in that way it sort of brings people together. Obviously it can cause arguments as well.
Y
um if people won't give you the things that you need.
Yeah. I I think it can be. So it's one of those ones that I can see people being locked out of the game. Um
but there are always ways you can get the resources if people won't give them to you.
Yes. But by spending a fortune to do but there's no you're never going to win like can negate that
if you are going to get if you're going to get basically blocked out of the game, which can happen depending on who you play.
Well, you equally can't spend the whole game like not trading with people.
Yeah. But if there's three, four people, three people to trade with, as long as you can trade with two of them or one of them, then you don't need to trade.
Yeah. But we found some people didn't have resources that we needed, so we had to trade with the other people. I think it's
I don't think it's that bad for take take that kind of shutting people out.
No,
not as bad as some other games.
Yeah, definitely.
Anyway, your mom quite enjoyed it.
She did. Yeah, she got on really well with it as well, which was um Yeah, I think I was a bit pleasant I was pleasantly surprised that she got how well she got on with it to be fair. Yeah, I think another game um that I think is really um I know whether we should be using the word accessible.
No, cuz accessible kind of
I don't know what the word is.
Gateway entry point.
Well, so Tricky Landing by Half No is a noob, isn't it?
Yes. Um, and I think some people, especially people new to board games, might not be okay with trick taking games. And sometimes, well, we've played trick taking games where I'm like, well, how do I win the trick? Cuz you keep playing these
Yeah. Yeah.
silly cards. But I think that's quite open to all gamers. And you know, unless you happen to be really good at throwing cards onto a tiny target.
Yes.
Which I don't think many people are like uh experts in that. It it is quite a level playing field.
Yeah.
Um that was quite enjoyable.
Yeah, Tricky Landing was a was a lot of fun. um from from from the p from the leveling of the playing field like you said I think there was a an aspect of you don't really need to worry about following suits as such because you can create your own trick so there's it takes away some of that learning of what trick taking is trick taking is an old
mechanic it's an old thing
um loads of games have had it before the modern hobby it's not a new thing but I under the guise of this is a trick taking game. I think sometimes people
it's it's calling it these offay words and
but I think also what's great about tricky landing is that you all play it and then depending on where the cards land you can always have like the person who's more experienced with board games um tell the others who scored what and where to put their cards which I think is always good with a newbie player who doesn't play many board games because I think sometimes the overheads of like what do I do with this card now and like where do whereas you can say right that's minus points you sort of run the game but everybody plays
I think sometimes that's easier isn't it
I think um and always and obviously Uno is hugely popular Monopoly Deal that kind of thing I think flip seven will always will now be a kind of a go-to staple as well Yeah,
we didn't play it. Um, we had played it with her previously. It's just pretty straightforward, isn't it? It's flip a card and do a thing.
It's always a nice like
I think we're always looking when you're introducing people to games, especially like, you know, sometimes I might be introducing to colleagues or friends who don't play games or family. Um, you want them to have a good experience, but you don't want like it to be too heavy.
Yeah. But you also want like from the selfish point of view, you want yourself to be you want something to scratch the itch for yourself. Like okay, we could play a really simple game that is easy for everyone to play, but will it scratch the itch for
me person? It's like a game like Forks, which is the perfect um a perfect
relationship with that game.
I think Forks is possibly the greatest game of all time. The greatest card game of all time.
Oh, no. No, it's not. That's that's Alpaca.
Um,
but Flip Seven said
Oh, yeah. Flip seven said it's the greatest card game of all time. So, that's that's very true. That is the one. Um, but yeah, Forks is you're basically playing with the markets. I've spoken about this on this podcast enough times.
I think every every podcast episode I'll mention Forks because it's actually brilliant.
He loves it.
Um, yeah, it's just every game is so satisfying and then you get it to the table, you play it, and it's so quick. It's like literally a 15-inute game and then people are like, "Yeah, let's play again. Let's go again. Let's go again." Like, it's it's very good. It's very addictive.
I just Oh, it's a joy. I just love it. Love it. Love it. Love it.
A new one uh that came to us, I think just before Christmas, but um again talking about kind of opening up games to people who don't play games that much. I was thinking of something like Play It Again by Party Snail Games.
Yeah.
Um which is I I don't know because I've never played Rapido, but it's seems to be something similar like that.
It's Pictionary with plastering Play-Doh.
You get Play-Doh, tubs of Play-Doh. You have to make things. Um you've got cards. One person is the guesser has to guess what the other people are making. It's interesting in that um you try to make it as fast as you can, but you then say sort of stop and everybody else has to stop making theirs and then you see whether the person can guess yours and if they can't then you're like frozen out of the round. Um we played it with the kids just on the normal version, but then who did we play it with?
Neurodic.
Yeah. And then on New Year's uh Eve, we played it with the like challenge cards. So it's like
um sculpt it with one finger or
close your eyes or
Yeah, close your eyes half the the pot of Play-Doh, share it with between three of you, make it as quickly as possible. And I think that just adds an extra level of spiciness, but the essentially the game is the same. But I think I think I think where we were going with the podcast originally when we're talking about it is talking about the fact that there there are games for different occasions.
Yes.
So, you know, we wouldn't necessarily on a normal weekday night choose to sit there playing again.
Yeah.
Between the two of us. Obviously you can't play it two player but you know those kind of games even flip seven things like that we're not we wouldn't choose to play that with each other but then you get those kind of party occasions or occasions where you're introducing people to game and they sort of come into their own and like really shine then don't they? And I think that's what's so great about having a great selection of games because you can almost handpick games that suit certain people. There are certain games I would play with some people and there are certain games that I would be like, "Ah, no, we're not playing that game cuz that would totally
uh, you know, be the wrong game to play." So, I think these these little kind of um you know, party games that uh [clears throat] gamers might sort of cast aside because they're not heavy enough. They're not
um crunchy enough. Actually, sometimes that is the perfect game.
Yeah. So, so a perfect example of that is at our I was lucky enough to be invited to the Asthma Day Christmas party um in London and it was all gamers from the Instagram community and YouTube communities and that kind of thing and and and family content creators, lots of different content creators. and they had um a rooftop terrace bar which was all very swanky and very nice, but laid out on the tables were lots of different board games. So, they had the Fate the Fellowship Lord of the Rings uh Pandemic System game. They had The Hobbit. They're back again. Oh dear, it's so late and cold. Um they had uh Star Wars Unlimited, the Battle of Hoth.
They had loads of different games out, but the ones that were mostly played were double flip seven brick like this. They were those quick fun party element games which shows that yes, we do love our heavier kind of midweight games where we can get a bit more invested in it. But there are times where you just have to have the right game. And sometimes the right game is brick like this because it's incredible. Um,
and it's funny because there are some games and I think like Taco Cat, like I know that Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza has gotten some of my friends into board gaming. Yes.
Right. [snorts] Um, I enjoy playing Taco Cat. Um, but there have been occasions where I think, do I need that in my collection anymore? Like maybe it's had its time.
Yeah. And then we played Taco Cat with your mom, but the Christmas version. And we had such a blast. Like we had such a laugh. Um, and then I think, "Oh no, it must stay again." So, you know, you go through cycles, but sometimes it's just it it is just that perfect game for that perfect
Yeah.
time. And you might never get that again. You might be like, "Oh, no. You know, that time has passed now." or people might I feel like some of the games that we loved and we're going off topic now but things like Flashoint, Co Express, Pandemic like we loved in the beginning.
Yeah.
Like we we're not so
No, but those also those games I remember there was a time when King of Tokyo and I was like I'm so confused about the rules of this game.
Yeah.
I don't understand. And now I'm just like you just roll three you roll the roll the dice three times. You yachi roll the dice and then whatever you get you get and you can buy cards and those cards will give you special powers. Done. That's just the game. But I used to be like I can do a what and buy a huh and how.
But I think you eb and flow through board games. Like we're definitely heavier board game players than we were
in the beginning.
Yeah. But then there are still those times where you just absolutely want to have those quick party games
fun. You know, there's no nobody has to think too much. Nobody, you know, has to think through the strategy cuz sometimes that isn't that fun.
Like there are times where I want to sit and like contemplate what I'm going to do and then,
you know, combo up certain things. And there are times where I just want my brain to like
Yeah.
Give me a break. I just want to play this silly game.
Yeah.
And not worry about it.
Yeah. I just you there. Yeah. Definitely times where you want to puzzle something out, work out the best combos, the best strategy. And then sometimes you do just want to sit there and go, "Yep, this is a game. This is what I want to play." And that's um perfectly okay.
I was trying to think if there were any other game. Uh can't go.
Yeah. um by Tri Ring Games that is um very accessible to everybody, very funny. Nobody has to take themselves too seriously.
Yeah, super silly.
Take time.
Yeah, I had that on.
Take time and like the mind, take time, that kind of game. Again, it's cooperative, so it's a real leveler and you're all going to make mistakes, so it's not really anyone's fault when you particularly lose.
Yeah. [snorts] So, yeah. um they're the games that we would sort of suggest for you know those party kind of things but I you know I would be careful of I mean maybe people aren't maybe it's just us but sometimes I dismiss those smaller boxed games
and I think you get the question like whenever you're introducing people to the hobby and you get a lot of people like these are five great gateway games and you'll see people throwing out like Flamecraft as simple like yes okay for me and you and probably people listening to this that's quite an accessible quite a simple straightforward gateway game but if you give you that to someone who's never played a game other than Monopoly in their life that you've broken them there I think it was Matthew Jude um once said if you if you find if you're a board gamer and you find a game really really easy and simple for a non-gamer that's still going to be overly complicated. Take steps back. Go even simpler than what you're thinking is simple. Like if you're thinking Ticket to Ride is simple, for a non-gamer, you need to be going further back than that.
You like Ticket to Ride is not simple for a non-gamer. So the accessibility and the ease of teaching it clearly. I think teaching a game is a
a real skill.
Yeah. Interestingly enough, your mom did leave us and say, "Um, I think I'm ready for a bit of a more challenging game next time."
Yep. So, Galactic Cruise is on the table for her.
No, but that was good to hear because actually she realized that actually she understood the games a bit.
Yeah. And she could she could play them. Yeah.
And maybe she wanted a bit more of a chunk.
Yeah. Exactly.
Anyway, so we're talking about all these games, but did you know
No, you can have merch that goes with the games. I can have merch that goes with the games.
Like shirts.
Like shirts.
Oh,
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Yeah. So, um I mean this podcast feels bitty, but like this episode, but so we wanted to talk then um about games that either live or die by the people you play them with.
Yeah, I think you can when you're I think this almost this episode is almost more about We're changing the title every 5 seconds. It's more about like the perfect game night.
Yeah. Yeah. Um, so there are there are definitely games out in the wild that we have played and experienced that sometimes I have played a game and it's been the best experience most fun game and thought to myself someone else will oh they'll love this game. They'll we'll play it with well as an example we'll play with your sister and it'll be like oh this is a great game we played it really amazing then we'll go off and play with someone else and we'll be like there those people will 100% love this game we've played it and it's gone
it's just gone a bit pl
one one such game for that um is Zuardis
so we played a game of Zuvardis and I think it didn't help
yeah it it helped the first time but the first time was where it went wrong. I think the first time we didn't really know the full ins and outs of the rules and exactly what you're doing.
I think yeah, other than the one games day where we where we learned a new game with always plays blue.
Yeah.
Um I would not suggest teaching or learning a new game for a games night.
No.
Like obviously it's difficult, isn't it? cuz there are some games where um you need a certain player count to be able to play it.
Yes.
But you at least need to have a very good understanding of that rule set
before you expect other people to play. But
cuz I think that sometimes is where it goes wrong.
Yeah, I agree. I agree. I think a game like a zuardis however or a hit the silk we'll get into that in a bit but or a blood on the clock that kind of thing but a zuardis is such a strange theme essentially zuardis is a uh a game where you're just uh trying to get everyone's favor to become the mascot in the zoo. You're trying to bribe and trying to talk people through. And essentially, it's a game of you saying, "Can I win? Will you let me win? Can I go and win?"
Yeah.
Uh if I win, I let you also maybe win, but you won't win because I'm going to win. But do you want to try coming this way? Um is you're basically moving up these paths around the zoo. Um, it's a very tricky one to explain, but one one game and I even think even if we knew the rules, I don't think it would have gone very well thinking back to it now. Yeah.
Um
I think that sometimes we're so hung up on playing or we're in that mode of playing strategy games where you where you are being competitive when you are trying to win that sometimes when you get a game like Zubardis or Moon Colony Blood Bath or some other games we're going to talk about in a minute. Um, sometimes it's hard to let go of that like I must have a strategy and I must win mentality
to just be like, oh no, this is a chill game where, you know, we're just having a bit of fun.
Yeah.
And it doesn't really matter cuz it's silly.
This is Yeah.
You know, Zuardis is silly.
Um, you know, essentially going, can I can I move into that pen?
Can you move Can you let me let me move forward and I'll let you do my secret ability. But if you're taking it really seriously, the game is ruined because,
you know, people are gonna get cross, why aren't you letting me into that pen, blah blah blah, or someone is going to get frozen out, that kind of thing.
Yeah.
So, I think it does definitely
Yeah. Yeah.
live or die on who you play it with and the the um the way you go into that game. Like, nobody can be super competitive about it. Like we're all just here to have like a little bit of fun.
Yeah. I remember trying to play also like another one like um I tried playing Survive Escape Atlantis and I remember playing it with your with your dad and and your sister's other half and it was very like they were trying to ma like math it out and stuff like that and I was like it's a whale
cuz we always play that game as just like really
it's so dumb. It's so dumb. Like you just got eaten by a whale or a shark or the whale just came knocked over your boat.
Yeah. Or a sea monster's appeared like
you know there are Yeah, there are some games where if you try to strategy it out actually
if you try to make it serious
Yeah.
It's dumb.
It doesn't work. And like there are some games that are just so totally stupid. Moon Colony Blood Bath is another one of them that has is it's a good game. Um, it came when I fir the first time I played it, I loved it. Um, second time I enjoyed it. Continuous repetitive plays have kind of shown me that this game is it's just the same. Yeah, the cards might come out in a maybe a different order, but essentially not really. Um,
but I think it's way more fun, and we might have said this before, but way more fun if you read the subtext on the cards.
Oh, yeah. You have to.
And you're like, "Oh my gosh, the robots are eating all the or you know, the plumbing's gone wrong." Or, you know, like if you just play the cards for the sheer like
card value,
what it says on the card. Yeah.
It's just way boring.
Yeah. Play the card, lose three, people. Play the card, gain this.
I lose three. Like, no. Yeah,
that is not exciting. But play with a group of people who want to send up the cards
and um be like, "Oh my gosh, you know, like essentially imagining you are a moon colony."
Yeah. Yeah.
Um
then it's then it's funny.
Yeah.
And uh Deep Regrets is the same, isn't it? It's it's
I enjoy Deep Regrets again. It's suffered the same fate as like Moon Connelly. like it's good but
limited limit
limited limited by the cards which we've spoken about before. I think the expansion will help that but again it's getting into those flavor t Oh, I I married a whatever mermaid or something weird. Yeah. Like
I ate my own toe.
Yeah.
Oh no, I've suffered regrets.
You can't Yeah. But if you're trying to keep all that information secret, like, no, I'm not going to tell you what kind of a regret this is because I don't want you to know that this is a three regret, you know? Okay. But like, it's way funnier to go, "Oh my gosh, I just uh ate all of whatever it was."
Yeah, I think I
can't think of what the funny things were.
But it's because it is quite a long game. And I think that's one of the criticisms of the game. And if you just
or if you go fishing and you end up with a boot.
Yeah.
You know, haha, I just went fishing and hauled up this human being, you know, like
Yeah.
Like you send it up and the people you're playing with send it up. Then it's a really funny experience.
Yeah. Yeah. You've got you've got to
Oh no, look at me. I'm going mad now. I want to have all these crazy fish.
Yeah. you've you've truly got to really like get into the theme and just enjoy what you're doing and enjoy the experience of the people you're with.
I would say um like we've called a lot on Blood on the Crop Tower. I know for ages and ages it was our favorite game. Um but I certainly think that the fun element of Blood on the Crop Tower disappeared.
Yes. So, in the early days when we played Blood on the Cocktail, it was one to have a space where we could meet up with our friends that we didn't live nearby.
Yeah.
And play a game.
Mhm. Um, two, it was just an enjoyable experience where everyone kind of just took on a character and it was like roleplay a bit like Dungeons and Dragons kind of you taking on your role for that that hour or two hours that the game lasts and it was just a bit of escapism from the real world. Um the issue then kept became uh people taking it too seriously and that um eagerness to win all the time like I must win or the rules to be followed to the letter of the law.
Yeah.
Um just took some of the fun away from
I think Yeah. I think there's too many like they've stretched the characters list far too much now for my personal opinion. I and it is it is a gatekeep gatekept game now.
Um there are a lot of people that know the rules and they will pick everybody up on them. They won't allow mistakes. Um and I Yeah, I think just
that's one that if you don't keep up with
Yeah. It's a living game. You just I just
It's a shame because it was such a good game. But I think it does depend on who you play with. I still would choose to play in person cuz I think that is the best way to play it.
Um but I think I always just want to play it for fun because it's silly fun and it doesn't really matter whether you're on the winning side or the losing side. It's just,
you know, what happens and who can get away with what. And
it's a it's a fragile area and I think it's best play for friends who know that you're going to you're going to get lied to.
Yeah.
Uh but don't take it too seriously.
But it's not about you as a person.
It's not you. You're not the person being lied to. And it sort of needs those um
understanding.
And not everyone's going to believe you. That's the other thing as well. You can you're going to you're going to tell the truth and people are not going to believe you. Um, and it's going to feel like it's unfair. And I just think we've had a few I' I arguably I'd almost say we've had more bad experiences recently with that game than good ones.
Yeah. It's a shame really, but it I think it does really depend on the group that you're playing with.
Yeah.
Um, but
I mean I've always still own it.
Yeah, it's still a good game.
Yeah, it's it's a good game. It's um obviously it's a good game, but it just it's one of those ones that I think a lot of social deduction and that type of thing.
Well, I was going to say sort of going back to where we started with, um the gateway games, there are certain games I don't really like. So, um, like fake artists in New York and things where I'm like the sole person who doesn't know stuff.
Yeah,
that makes me feel really awkward. I would never play one of those games with
uh a newbie to
because
I mean, yes, they can be fun and I have played it and I have enjoyed them, but they make me feel on edge.
Yeah. And I don't want to be the one that people go, "Oh, well, it must be you cuz you just said a silly answer like
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Um, and that might just be me, but I think that I wouldn't choose those kind of
no
kind of games to play with."
No, I like um but yeah, like I said, like a sabotur, fine.
Yeah. Yeah. one person because it's not you're not doing something. You're trying to li you can lie in different ways but drawing a picture where you have no idea what's happening or saying an answer like in Chameleon trying to guess when you have no clue at all is it's just a nightmare.
Um
you were you were going to talk about Hit the Silk.
Hit the Silk is another one. I love Hit the Silk and it's coming back to Kickstarter in February. So look out for that with simplified rules and exciting things.
Definitely depends who you play with.
100%. Hit the Silk is a fantastic game. Hit the Silk is a movie essentially. I've had some of the best gaming experiences playing Hit the Silk. Um and it it is
Can I explain what Hit the Silk is for those people who don't
If you do not know what Hit the Silk is, Hit the Silk is a you are on a money plane. Um, you've stolen some money from the mob, but the pilot has uh shot the engine, jumped out with two parachutes or the remaining parachute. So, there's limited parachutes left. You either have to try and pull together to get a certain amount of money, jump off the plane. But the problem is there's not enough parachutes for everyone or try and land the plane with enough money. Um, there are different cards you can play uh like a knife or and threaten people to get money off them or a gun. you can poison people, you can handcuff it yourself to people, and it's a really cool little mechanic. Um, and every time you play a card, essentially the uh airplane drops uh in altitude. I think in the new edition, that mechanic is being changed. I think it's an end of round and it's dropping, but that's something um look into. But I love it. But it has to be you have to ham it up to the 10th degree. You really have to get into like this character, this story line, because if you don't,
there is a chance that you could just go, why don't we try and land on this plane,
right?
And nothing happens.
Then we don't have to argue about the parachute. We just we just go to the mini game that is rolling. So, we get the pilots, find the pilot's license, all work together. Let's all try and land this plane. Um,
and we win or lose together.
Like, you literally could do that in this game. But I think that there are I think that goes back to like some of the other games we talked about where like it's not it's not about necessarily winning.
No.
Um and I think there are some games where yes, the ultimate goal is to win that game and you're trying to do it through employing the best strategy you can. And there are some games where I will play the same game over and over again because I want to improve my strategy. I'm not necessarily even winning the game each time.
Yeah.
I actually just want to improve my strategy.
Sometimes there are games like the white cast.
Yeah. Yeah. And I will play over and over again until I feel like I'm being successful. Yeah.
But there are other games where I feel like you almost have to say to the group of people before you start the game, look,
this isn't a a a strategy game. This is you shouldn't have to say it, but like this is let's just have a bit of fun with this, you know, let loose. Let it all hang out, you know, whatever. Not literally, cuz that would be weird up the
Yeah. Never never hang things out of the board game night,
but you know,
especially with your mom on Christmas Eve.
Let's just not be cutthroat about it. Let's just have fun.
Weave a story, tell a story.
Yeah. um and and see what happens because on those occasions what you're left with is um and the same with Clock Tower, same with Hit the Silk is you're left with a memory of an experience that you all shared. Yeah.
That you can then go back, you know, the next game like do you remember we did this and this was awesome and you did this and you were poisoned and you you know
and there's something to go back to. Otherwise, you might end up with like
we played that game of hit the silk with Brad and Katie and I was basically the ultimate villain in a movie. Like I had the gun, I shot someone so they had their thing and we got all the way to the end and then I got poisoned at the end and died.
But like that was the perfect ending for my character that I created story in this game.
Like
and just laughed about it at the end.
There was no better ending. It was so good. Like the whole story that we created and crafted was like this was the perfect movie ending for my villain character that I had created as we were playing. But when I started the game, I had no intention of being this villain. Well, then maybe I did. Um I had no intention of being this villain character, but I couldn't have dreamed how well it kind of all played out with us like messing each other up and double crossing each other and handcuffing each other to bodies and stuff. It was so good. It was really really cool. Do you know who like messing about with stuff?
Who likes messing about with stuff?
Goblins.
Goblins. Bloody goblins. I tell you those goblins.
Oh, well, I bring important goblin news. I do.
Does he? Does.
One day I'll do an accent, but I haven't learned that yet.
Okay.
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That sounds like another ad read.
I'm so sorry. That sounds like if you go to www.mmysterydicegoblin.com/getintogames, you'd get like 10% off at mysterydicegoblin's website and get loads of great deals.
Lovely jobly.
That does sound fun. So, I would definitely go across to www.msterydicegoblin.com/getintogame and get some real juicy Brucey bonuses.
Okay, so we've talked about gateway games. Yes,
we talked about games that sing with the right players.
Yes.
Um, there are certain games that don't feel that accessible for several reasons. Either
scary.
Yes. Either the rule book is way too complicated. Some games are absolutely brilliant, but the rule book is like I want to say a bad word. The rule book is oops [clears throat] is essentially yes rubbish and it holds you back from actually getting to the root of what the game is. If you are lucky enough to play a game like that with somebody who has poured over the rule book and understood what it was intending to say through all the, you know, rubbish,
then great. There are other games where you just look at the board and think, "Oh my god, I can't possibly play that."
Yeah.
So, shall we talk about the two experiences where
Yeah.
those things I would say are true and how um how they were made accessible by the potentially the people we played them with or you know,
I think there was there's there were two games that we're going to be talking about mainly and I'll say both of them. it. Trarion and Brass Birmingham.
Mhm.
Trarion has always been one of our bucket list games that we've always wanted to play. We were lucky to get a copy um trade a copy. Uh we traded Transgalactica for Tragarion. One of us uh did really well on that uh trade and the other person was Amy. So, we did a really good uh trade and um we've always wanted to play it, but it was always looked at it at conventions and gone,
whoa.
So, I was going to say, so the first time I saw Tracion was at UKG, maybe the first year I went,
a few years back,
the uh the person who was demoing it said, "Uh, do you want to sit down for a demo of Trarion?" And I think I had the kids at the time. I was like, "There is no way." I looked at the board and I was like there is no way I can play that game.
Yeah.
Because like it looks busy. Um it looks heavy. I'm not sure I you know I don't think I could
cope. Um obviously we've seen videos and playthroughs of people playing it and I thought well I quite you know I do like the theme of magic. You know I am now I would say more of a medium to heavy
Yeah. gamer, like I do understand mechanics. So maybe, you know, now would be a time to to have a go. However, when you look at the board, it's just so overwhelming. I wasn't really sure what I was looking at.
Having played it, the board is now beautiful. Like it's um almost I think it's like Victorian.
Yeah. um England and it's uh like maybe it's London
beige
like it's a town anyway and and all of the artwork on the board is like people going to theaters and going to the shops and and I get it now but looking at it I would have been like what am I supposed to do?
Yeah. Yeah.
But essentially when somebody has explained the game to you there are about four actions you can take. Do the thing. Do the thing. Do the thing.
There are four There are four worker placement locations you can go to. Each of one of those worker placement locations has four spots. Those spots are based on turn order and how many little like who gets to go there first against will use their powered worker to do stuff.
Mhm.
Um it's really simple.
It's really simple.
It actually is surprisingly simple.
Yes. So once we got into the nitty-gritty of it, well we well it must have been so simple because Amy and Liam taught it to us, we played it and then the next morning we played it again.
Yeah.
Cuz we were like absolutely love it.
Yeah.
And I reckon it's one that we could set up and be like I know how to play that. It it what's interesting about it though is as much as we saw of it and watched of it and stuff like that, I don't I still feel like we'd h we had to play it to learn it. I don't think watching a video and then getting it to the table would have I don't still don't think we would have somehow it wouldn't have clicked, but when we were physically playing it, it clicked and
but the rule book is a little bit comp.
Yeah. If you don't I think sometimes rule books forget
that you don't necessarily know
what some things mean.
Yes.
Or what they're referring to. So it's almost like the person's writing it as you know they've obviously made the game. They know exactly what they mean by this certain action.
Yeah.
And you're like say what?
Yeah. Yeah. You know, whereas when somebody else has explained to you, well, essentially you're going to this location or this location or this location or you can pick up a car tit,
right? I get that. Okay, so explain it to me in the mechanisms. What am I doing now? I kind of understand. Right, we're putting on a performance.
Yeah,
we're going to put on a show. We're going to make we need to make these tricks. The tricks need to line up and match up so that it, you know, makes a cohesive performance. Oh, get it. Get it. I think also there's like a million different like examples sometimes people put in instruction manuals like so these are the steps on this this placement work placement area you can get here's 15 examples of what will happen if you go to that place it's like no show me the places I can go then give me the examples later on like a whole another book of examples
play testing is really important but also giving people the chance to read the rule book and and ask those questions is like what does that mean? Like can you because I know like people like John from Try win games
like spent a lot of time trying to think about how to explain his game in the rule book.
Yeah.
Um and I do think that needs some thinking about because it isn't as straightforward as just, you know, I'll just write down the rules and someone will get it. There's there it's quite a complex thing.
Yeah.
And it can stop people from enjoying a game.
Yeah, definitely. And I think onto the next part of the other game that we have always wanted to play more of. We played it once a few years ago.
We played half of it once.
We played half of it once a few years ago. And no matter how many times we read the rule book, no matter how many times,
we watched videos.
We set it up in the table so it was ready to go.
Nothing. Nothing was sticking. It was just I don't know how to play brass Birmingham. I am so confused of what I'm doing or how I'm doing any of this.
I think we'd always go to start and then we'd have a question about something. Oh, I don't know. You know, and then that would just put us off from playing it.
Yeah. Fine. Maybe we're the only on
like Shutter Island.
Yeah. That won't make any sense to anybody.
How many times did we watch Shutter Island?
So many times.
So many times.
We have to keep This is an aside now, but
we kept falling asleep during Shutter Island, so we'd watch different parts of it.
Yep.
And well, I think we had to watch it about five or six.
We watched it five or six times and it wasn't even worth that. It wasn't even worth it.
That big twist.
Oh, what a surprise. kind of I telegraphed telegraphed the surprise twist on the first viewing before I fell asleep the first time and then by the fifth time of falling asleep and actually getting to the end was like, "Oh, right."
Well, it was worth me not.
This was worth five attempts, wasn't it?
Anyway,
but yeah, I think um
it was definitely worth it. I think Braath is great. That's another game that's overwhelming though cuz you get a whole board with all these buildings that you can place out which are all in ordered num number order and you can only place out certain ones and if you haven't got
you know the resources to play you can only play out certain
it's definitely more it's more complex and trickario.
Yeah,
there's there's a lot more there are a lot more confusing things like how can I spend my coal? Where am I connected? when how can when can I spend coal from over here and when can I not spend coal from over here? I've got to be connected down here. There's a lot more going on, a lot more to think about, but thematically it's really good. It's it's like, okay, it's the number one board game of all time. Whether it should be or not, it is. Um
there's a new one coming up.
There is Brass Pittsburgh.
But I think that um the accessible nature of it was through the people teaching us.
Yes. Because again, the rule book and the complexity of the game doesn't lend itself to being very accessible.
No.
But you know, sometimes it does take somebody else to teach it to you and then oh right, everything just clicks into place. And the other thing I'll add as well and I think what really and why it clicked into place as well and it's and a lot of the time is if Brian's teach like Brian always plays blue teaches us games and I hope to try and do that other than seti we won't talk about seti but don't the people who taught us the game aren't teaching us but they're still hoping to win the game.
Yeah. Yeah.
They're teaching it. I think that's important
to level it.
Um
I that was accidental the winning of Seti.
I didn't mean to, but it was my best score ever and I'm still proud of it. Um but
you you teaching games is the really important part of that to keep it accessible to learn those heavier games is you can't just teach it and then go, "Oh, by the way, this is how you win." And then just win the game. I think also there's an element of, you know, you don't want to tell people what to do, but you do want to point out a little bit, you know, where they could do a better action than the one they're choosing to do.
Yeah.
You know, I think sometimes that's nice. And I think John maybe does it, Amy maybe does it. You know, you could do this and this would get you this.
Yeah.
Oh, right. Okay. I hadn't seen that option. I might choose to do that. I might not choose to do that. Yeah. But at least you've shown me what [snorts]
what is possible where you know sometimes I think
if people gatekeep games
like we talked about before
you know and try to keep certain elements that oh you don't know that you can do this.
Yeah.
That could really ruin a game for somebody because actually the joy of the playing the game with somebody is that you're all enjoying it together.
You're all having a laugh. You're you know if you you know when we played brass what did we start at 10 and finish at one like it's a 3 hours you're you're committing to 3 hours of a game
with people and you want everybody around that table to finish that 3 hours and think yeah I'm really glad we spent three hours doing that together.
Yeah let's play again. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Not, oh my god, that was the longest three hours of my life. I never want to.
But it can really put people off of games. Like we've had people who have had a really bad experience with Everddale. And I know Everdell's a subject matter that is 50/50. Some people love it. It's cool to hate it. You know, that kind of thing.
Yeah. Um, but we've had people not like had a bad experience and then having to then I've taught it and played it and it changes experiences and that kind of thing. And it's that teach is really important that that that it's so valuable um to actually enjoying a board game. Um,
no. Do you know what's good?
What is good
for uh to enjoy with a board game? What type of board game?
Some nit hoger mead.
Nit hoger mead.
So I need to tell you about something that makes you feel like a Viking without having to grow a beard or pillillage anything.
I have a beard.
Okay.
And I'm get rid of the beard. Maybe
I haven't pillaged.
Okay. Nogamid. Well, you did if you played C Express, but
Okay.
Nidhogamad is smooth and honey rich. You'll swear it was brewed by a dragon with excellent time management skills. The stuff tastes like victory. Or at least like you almost went to the gym today. I don't think anybody went to the gym today.
No, I I did.
Well, I think they must.
I went to the Oh, no. No.
They could have slid to the gym.
I went to the dump. That's not
That's not the same.
I mean, it could be, but you know. Yeah.
It's bold. It's delicious. And it's way classier than chugging whatever mystery liquid is in the back of your fridge. So, if you want to upgrade your drinking game and impress your friends with something that sounds like it came straight out of a fantasy novel, grab a bottle of Nid Hogami to drink like a legend without having to fight one.
Sounded a bit like an ad read.
I don't know why you're telling people it's not.
Well, I don't know.
It could just be me imparting knowledge.
Okay. Well, that is good knowledge, but if I go to the website of Nidhogger and I type in the code get into games 10,
am I or am I not getting 10% off? You're getting 10% off.
I'm getting 10% off using the code get into games 10 at the Nid Hoger website.
Yeah,
that's pretty good. So, I'm going to head to the Nid Hoger website right now. Going to fire it up on the old laptop machine.
Yeah.
And um get 10% off the old me.
Nice.
Yeah.
Mot time.
Memo time. This is a new segment. New segment. Claxon. This is called a board game. We're going to look back into years gone by and look at some of the older games and see if they still stand the test of time or if there were any improvements to make. Uh so we had a look back in our collection and we found some of the golden oldies.
Well, one we're going to do one every broadcast.
Yes. Until we reach the golden non bees.
Yes. Let me talk to you about the board game. A fellow. Okay. A fellow or reversy was published in 18 reversy.
Well, in 1883, a game was invented by Lewis Waterman and John W. Mlet. Um, in 1883 and it was called Reversy. Both of these people claimed to have invented the game. Uh, and both denounced each other as frauds because they both were saying I invented it. No, I invented it and I imagine they challenged each other
to a jewel and like smacked each other in the face with Nid Hoger and a leather glove
and in 1893 started producing the game of one of its first titles. Yes, the game was invented was invented in 1883. Versie was started to be published produced by Ravensburgger
[snorts]
um in 1893 as one of the first titles Ravensburgger ever produced.
Nice.
Athell the modern version that we know and love was actually designed on Reverse system. Reversy was basically sticks with a black end and a white end. Flip flip flip flip flip.
Now
sticks. How did that work? They were like um checkers,
pointy sticks that you put in the
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
So, the modern version of the [clears throat] game was patented in Japan in 1971 by Satoshi Hagawa. I do apologize for ruining your name, but you're also probably uh not listening to the podcast. Um the name Athell was selected as a reference to the play Athell uh by William Shaker Spear.
Um referring to the conflict between Athell and Iago um and the unfolding drama between Athell and Desdona with Athell being a black character and Desdona being white. Oh.
Um, and also the board being green was there to symbolize the jealousy of Iago over um
I did not know all this. You did you did research.
Depth of research.
Wow. I think round of applause there.
Thank you.
I love that book.
How many copies of Aello do you think have been sold worldwide?
50 million.
40 million. Oh, I was
You gave it more credit than it deserves. Terrible. Athell garbage game. Let's put it in the bin.
Um,
if Yeah, pretty pretty good.
If you don't know what Athell is, it is a game that involves involves involves involves 64 identical discs which are white on one side, black on the other side, as mentioned on an 8 by8 grid. Uh, you start with four in the middle, two pointing up white, two pointing up black, and you're placing a a piece down, and essentially, you're flipping the tiles. And the aim of the game,
I looked it up, and it's called flanking and flipping.
That's a bit rude. This is a family show.
Flanking and flipping.
We're going to do some flanking and flipping later.
# flanking and flipping.
Yes. # flanking and flipping. Uh, if you get this far. Um, yeah. And it's really cool. And there's loads of there's a there's a world championship. Um and there's some strategies that I've recently learned.
Oh no. So now when I play
So now I'm excited. It's going to be like the beetle bomb all over again. No. Apparently um Well, apparently if you
No, don't don't don't tell the strategy.
Don't tell the strategy on the internet because once I do
people might want to play it.
We might. I don't know if the strategy work. So, this is one of the those games that I had really
then on my notes it says discuss the game.
Oh, early on discuss
early on in my childhood.
Um I always quite liked the fact that it had like a plastic cover that went over the discs that you like flipped and it sort of withdrew into itself.
Yeah, that's good cuz that box that we've got is ruined beyond belief.
Yeah. Well, it's really old. Yeah. Um, it's almost like the ones uh that you know like where you had frustration where the children like the ' 70s children are going, "Yay, I love this game."
Isn't the box like a royalty? Isn't it like a king's game? Isn't it like isn't it royal people? Royalty on the on the box.
It's like a Vik Biscuit.
But I suppose this it was the first abstract strategy game that I played with my parents and my sister. Um, and I did quite I did quite enjoy it.
Um, and we've played it [snorts] more recently.
Yeah.
Um, I think it's I think it's like chess and I think it has stood the test of time.
I think that um it's quite a simple abstract strategy game, but talking about accessible like I think it's accessible to anybody. You just teach them that you know they have to put their colors either side of your colors and then you can flip everything. Yeah,
it's quite satisfying to get like cuz you can get like like two directions of
Yeah,
it's it's a it's a really it's a very very good abstract game.
You don't necessarily know who's going to win till near the end.
I think dare I say it's potentially a solvable abstract strategy game. chess in its way is if you know that your horse is going to move in that direction, your little um your little bishop thing is going to go like that. You like you can solve a win in 43 3 4218 moves. I feel like you may well in like checkers you or skippy may be solvable, but it still depends on what your partner does and where they put their piece.
Yeah. Um, and I still think there's a lot of like unknowns. You can't necessarily just go right, I'm going to do this, that, and the other
to win the game. Like,
yeah,
you know, it's still back and even if you don't win the game, it's still back and forth, isn't it? the I think the it it's probably one of those abstract games that I would say you could put with any abstract strategy game from the modern kind of board gaming hobby.
Mhm.
Um as such and you could if it was made today
I'd believe you like if it was like this is a brand new game this is called Athell. This is what you do. I'd do. Okay. Yeah.
Yeah. I suppose it's like a show boo, but I think they all are
those kind of abstract strategy games all have a historical background like they're not new.
No,
they all come from
Yeah. Everything is is based on something that's originally. But I think a fellow from this point of like a how if it stands the test of time absolutely does. There's no re like on like a
it doesn't need a theme. Like it doesn't have a theme. I think sometimes
abstract strategy games inherently don't have a theme.
But I think sometimes on a bed
Well, yeah, but I think sometimes in order to sell more copies of an abstract strategy game, a theme is added on the top.
Yes.
That's not needed.
Correct.
Because the joy is in the strategy. Sometimes abstract strategy games add a random piece of string or rope that you don't actually need in the game, which is fantastic.
But yeah, I think like it doesn't it doesn't need anything else. It's it's it's good as it is.
Yeah.
Although I did think of some things that you could do to it.
What could you do if you were taking it to the garage
and um
alloys
upleveling it? 18inch rims.
Did you think of anything?
A spoiler
that you would do to
I would churn. No.
Shall I tell you mine?
Okay. Tell me.
So, I thought our version is plastic, isn't it?
I think so. I thought in this day and age probably wooden would be much more Yep.
Um people would be up for that or re-wood.
I'm sure I'm sure there probably are.
Yeah, there probably are. Um I thought um
giant
a bit like we've got uh smart connect.
Yeah.
I thought you could have a smart version.
Okay.
Of
Yeah. So you can play it solo, I guess.
Yeah. Where the computer makes the next move.
Yeah. So Geer, get on that.
I thought, you know, if you wanted to change it up a little bit, you could have like some special spaces. So if you manage to flip on a certain space,
triple words. Not a triple score, but do you know what I mean? Like you you've I don't know affected this square, so you get to put down two.
Yeah.
I don't know if that's changing it too much. Um changing the grid size.
Yeah.
So, it's currently 8 by 8, but you could have a more challenging game 10x 10 or or a smaller game 6 by six or whatever. um challenges to like I don't know see who can do something the fastest or
yeah like grid pattern shapes like Tetris Tetris shapes that you've got to create like on cards that score you points. So if you create your colors while flipping them if you can create these shapes or these clusters you score extra points. That'd be quite cool.
And then it doesn't need it but like
it doesn't need anything. Say you were trying to resell Athell, maybe you could theme it like you could have a Christmas athell or a Halloween athell or
Yeah,
in those kind of like or a neon disco where you change the colors.
Yeah. Yeah. I I think yeah, you could rethe that kind of stuff. But as a game itself, it stands it's has its
it passed theote. But if you wanted to add any um extra
bits, you could
you could definitely add you could jazz it up. Even if it's just jazzing up the board or the way the game's played, travel version that's just made out of fuzzy felt. One side's white, one side's black, and then it'll just stick to the board. So if the car rocks, the airplane hits turbulence, your little bits don't go flying everywhere.
Fair enough. Fair enough.
And yeah, anyway, the tea is all gone. I enjoyed that tea very much.
It was nice. I um think that's everything.
We've rabbited on for quite a lot of time.
We did rabbit on, but hopefully it was coherentish.
I like the emote section.
I did too. Next week will be a different game. If you got any suggestions for an emote,
let us know. is Q&A.
Next week is Q&A week.
So, you need to be getting the questions in.
So, if you've got any questions for the podcast, please.
The harder the funnier, the better.
That's my Tinder bro profile. Um,
I don't know. I don't want boring questions like, "What's your pet flavor?"
"What's your pet flavor?"
I don't Do not ask simple questions like, "What is your pet flavor?"
No, that came out wrong. I don't want questions like what's your favorite player color?
Are you telling me what your pet flavor is? Is that came out wrong?
Favorite player color? Like that's boring. I want like
I want like
either you know questions that are hard to answer that require a longer
answer
or or No, you're just making fun of me.
No, that's because you've been on the day one
or you know something that probes in a direction. Oh yeah, I love probing.
What's the name?
I love probing when I'm tasting my pets.
Anyway, I will let you collect questions.
Thank you. So, if you've got any questions, please drop them to us. Um, you can send them to uh get into games uh Craig.duntonames.co.uk
or just message on Instagram.
Message on Instagram via DM
or wherever you're listening to this. Leave it in the comments below this video, wherever you're listening and I'll collate them. Leave your leave your handles and your names and we'll mention you on the podcast. If you want a shout out, we'll shout you out like this.
Like that. That's me.
You want one of my awesome ad reads.
If you want an awesome ad read, let us know. If you want some peanut butter and jelly mix.
Oh, and Time Troopers might be coming soon.
And Time Troopers is coming soon.
Yay.
Look after yourself.
There's going to be an episode on that, isn't there?
There's going to be one episode on that. Um, and look out for another there might be a bonus episode as well coming out between now and the Q&A. I don't know if that's going to happen or might happen afterwards before we do our roundup for the month. We're almost at the end of January.
I mean, we're not,
but we are kind of We may as well. We might as well be at the end of January,
right?
All right. Remember
to
get into a Shakespeare play because it's really good actually.
Okay. Remember to
to get into flanking and flipping.
Flanking and flipping with peanut butter
and probe. Probe away.
Remember to probe your flavor for the favorite flavor of pet.
Love you all. Love you. Bye-bye. Love to get into James. Goodbye. Bye.