Guessing popular games from the worst descriptions ever. - Lost In The Shuffle

0:00 What's the the the game with the like tall guy? He's got brown hair. He's on the cover.

0:08 Wormstein?

0:09 No. On this episode, we give you terrible descriptions of games and hope you figure it out and don't get lost in the shuffle.

0:21 Grant,

0:22 Yeah.

0:22 I think that you, like me, uh would consider yourself a

0:27 I thought you just were going to pause there and be like, "I think you like me."

0:30 And I'd be like, "Yes."

0:31 Yes, I do like you. Oh, there's more to that sentence. Okay, keep going.

0:36 that's all I need. Okay, bye, everyone.

0:38 I thought you like me. Yeah, yeah, that's a good statement.

0:42 Yeah, I'm fulfilled.

0:45 Okay, you meant like Grant, {comma} you like me.

0:48 Yes.

0:49 Yes.

0:49 Well, perhaps I'll take a different approach. Grant, as a fellow consumer and player of games of the board,

0:59 Yes.

1:00 I would assume that you, {comma} like me,

1:03 Okay.

1:04 spend an awful lot of your time describing games to other people.

1:08 That's very true. Yeah, I do a lot of teaching of games. I even find that there's sometimes mechanisms within a game that I'm like, "Hey, all of that made sense to you. This part's going to be weird, but stick with me." You know?

1:20 Well, keep that thought in mind because today Matthew Jude has put together a little quiz for us that just goes full bore and exemplifies the challenging aspect of describing board games.

1:32 Okay, I'm on board.

1:33 Okay, because we have another round of terrible game descriptions.

1:38 Uh-oh.

1:39 We are going to receive five, believe it or not, terrible game descriptions. And all we have to do is take our handy-dandy do-do-do-do.

1:46 So, we all get what's happening. We're going to look at terrible games and we're going to have to decipher them, game descriptions.

1:52 Okay, to be fair, I could have just said that. Let me think about what I've done as we prepare for round number one.

1:59 Actually, hold on.

2:01 Okay.

2:01 I did do a terrible job describing the game because each round of the game will actually have two parts. There will be a really, really terrible game description.

2:10 Got it.

2:10 Then a slightly less terrible game description.

2:13 Okay, so we're going to do our A and B

2:15 Exactly.

2:16 you know, rows here and get more points if we get it on A than if you get it on B.

2:21 If we get it on the first clue, double points.

2:23 All right. I like it.

2:25 Now. Now we will start round number one.

2:29 Even in a futuristic wasteland, we all have to go to work in a factory.

2:35 Interesting.

2:37 Even in a futuristic wasteland

2:39 like a dystopian stuff. Yeah.

2:44 Hm. But you have to work in a factory? I'm going to say this cuz I know it can't be it. I was going to say Radlands cuz that's got the dystopian part, but there's no factories in Radlands. In fact,

2:55 actually quite the opposite of factories. So it's definitely not that unless that's what you're writing.

3:01 No, it's not what I wrote down.

3:02 Okay. I got that locked in?

3:03 Yep. I got my first one.

3:05 Okay. Well, let's continue on then to the second clue.

3:09 Reach for the stars as your mechs steal everyone else's hard work.

3:14 Oh, I I think I got an idea.

3:17 I don't.

3:17 I don't.

3:18 Okay. So, first uh there's a game called Crisis. I think you're running kind of a a country with corporations and the the budget and everything is eventually going to fall apart into a dystopian nightmare.

3:31 Okay.

3:31 Uh so

3:32 I haven't played that before.

3:33 It's a great little game, definitely worth trying, but I don't think it's the answer to this question.

3:37 Sure. All right. I, you know, partly did this because I'm watching this TV show right now. There are multiple Fallout board games. There is like the the you know, it's a dystopian wasteland and people do work in factories. I can't think of which specific Fallout game it is cuz I know there's one where you're sort of building um your like your bunker, you know? And then there's a few Fallout games. So,

4:03 Okay.

4:03 It's not right, but you know, I'm watching the TV show and it's on my mind right now.

4:07 Never stopped us before.

4:09 Yeah.

4:09 All right. Well, before we reveal our bees, let's see the actual answer.

4:13 Okay. Okay.

4:15 We got a process starting.

4:17 Stars, mechs, factory.

4:20 It's got to be Scythe. It is Scythe. The answer is Scythe.

4:23 And uh stars, it's the little stars for

4:27 Sure.

4:28 is in Scythe. So,

4:29 Yeah, but it's also a description of another game set in the Scythe world. They did a version of Scythe called Expeditions.

4:39 Expeditions. Oh, boy. Now, are there as many big mechs in in the

4:43 There are mechs in Expeditions.

4:45 Do you want the point for that?

4:47 No, you get the point because you wrote Scythe, but I have an issue with Matthew because I also feel like my answer works.

4:55 Okay. So, the ruling here is I get the point.

4:57 Yeah, cuz you wrote the right thing. I didn't write the right thing.

5:00 And you just are going to write Matthew an angry letter.

5:03 Yes.

5:08 Are you ready for number two?

5:09 I am.

5:09 Here we go. What game could this terribly be possibly? What game could this possibly be?

5:17 Is he a wizard or is that just really shiny armor?

5:22 So, it's like kind of a wizard that you don't really

5:27 A wizard wears armor? Okay.

5:30 I got my first answer already.

5:32 Well, I'm

5:33 I'm redrawing my little horizontal line that didn't do very much. Mhm.

5:39 All right.

5:40 How confident are you on your

5:42 feel pretty good about this one. It's not a game that I have actually played, but I just feel like I understand this description.

5:48 Oh. I feel like this description wasn't that terrible for me.

5:52 Okay, well, let's let's see if the easier clue enlightened you. Sure.

5:56 They say if you can get through the rulebook, you're the real winner. Thank God for Paul Grogan.

6:03 I I can picture it. I can picture I can picture the layout on the table. What is the and there was I Have [clears throat] you locked in your answer yet?

6:12 Well, not my second one. I did my first one. But I don't know what to write other than my first one.

6:19 There was a Star Trek version of this game that came out recently.

6:23 Oh, but I'm just going to write that one since you said that.

6:26 But no, but it's not it's not the Star Trek version.

6:28 Yeah, but I don't know what else to write in my

6:30 I can't remember who revealed first.

6:32 you revealed first last time, so I'll do my first reveal. A wizard, shiny armor, that feels like it's Mage Knight. That description is Mage Knight. I literally was just trying to think of like what's a wizard but also might be a knight. Oh, Mage Knight.

6:49 That's a game.

6:50 Well, I kind of went in that direction, but I was thinking, okay, what's the game where, you know, mages can, you know, get armor and do any kind of classing they want. And I was thinking of Mage Wars. The card game. But then, after hearing the Paul Grogan clue, I went over to Mage Knight as well.

7:10 Oh, I just went after your Hey, there was a new version of a Star Trek version. I just wrote Captain's Chair, which was the new Star Trek version. Is that the Star Trek version you were talking about? That's a new Star Trek game.

7:26 it's something like Star Trek Frontiers is the Mage Knight version of Star Trek.

7:29 But I think I'm right with Mage Knight.

7:31 Yeah. Yeah. Well, shall we see if it is indeed one of these?

7:35 This one's Mage Knight the board game, which sent me down a rabbit hole about Mage Knight that I didn't wasn't prepared for. Do you know there's a whole thing, Mage Knight miniatures game? Before, that's why it's called Mage Knight the board game. Anyway, answer is Mage Knight the board game.

7:47 All right, so you get

7:48 four points.

7:49 And I get two points. So, I'm not out of this yet.

7:52 I'm pretty impressed with myself that I just got Mage Knight out of nowhere.

7:55 Are you ready for number three?

7:56 I am. Let's see it. I don't feel very lucky at all. In fact, I feel like you might be an idiot.

8:05 There is a game called You Must Be an Idiot.

8:08 I don't think that's it.

8:09 It's not going to be that.

8:10 Yeah. All right, let's see the second one.

8:13 Okay, hold on. Before we go to the second clue, both of you, do you want to say what genre of game you picked for your first clue?

8:20 I don't know what genre this is.

8:23 This is another game I don't think I've played. I just know it exists.

8:28 Never mind.

8:29 All right, well, let's continue on to clue number two. Cuz it sounds like we're good.

8:36 Okay, horse and newspaper does kind of get you to the Pony Express, but I'm not I'm not happy about it.

8:45 What's a game that you're putting things together and you want to feel smart or clever? So, I put So Clover.

8:52 Yeah, and the four-leaf clover is like might be lucky. Yeah, for sure. Uh I just was really thinking about luck and I was like, "What is Where do we talk about luck more than Las Vegas?" So, that's just I just went with the luck thing.

9:07 Oh, you're right. What What How would you categorize Las Vegas?

9:10 Yeah, I don't know.

9:12 That's true. Then, as my backup, I put Medium, which is a similar type game, putting ideas together, but uh doesn't quite fit as well to me.

9:21 Well, once I heard the second description of like putting two words together, I also put So Clover.

9:27 Okay, there you go. I think we have our answer.

9:29 "Okay, yeah, makes sense with the four-leaf clover and the Yeah." This one is So Clover.

9:36 There we go. So this was number three, so that's three

9:41 You're getting six and I'm getting three.

9:42 Yes.

9:44 Oh boy.

9:45 Close.

9:45 This is very close with two questions left.

9:47 Yeah.

9:50 We've been pretty good at these though as I say to drink sauce and now we won't get a single another thing but

9:56 Thanks Brett.

9:56 Yeah, yeah.

10:00 Look I know sometimes people say that games are just spreadsheets but this is just a spreadsheet, right?

10:07 I have heard this particular game called spreadsheet the game by more than one person.

10:15 This is not it but it gives me an opportunity to talk about a game I really like and is underrated.

10:19 Yeah, that's kind of my fallback sometimes, yeah.

10:24 Japanese efficiency mixed with obsolete technology.

10:28 Well, this is not the game I first thought it was then.

10:33 Hmm.

10:33 How are you feeling? Do you feel like that?

10:36 No, I I don't have Well, because I thought I have a pretty solid guess for that second clue but once you put it with the first clue it all falls apart. So you know, it's about taking the two clues together. So I don't have it.

10:49 Well, at least I have nine points.

10:53 That's true. If neither of us get any points.

10:55 No, okay.

10:56 it.

10:56 So when he said spreadsheet the game, in my mind I was just thinking tracks.

11:02 Okay.

11:03 What's a game with a lot of tracks you're going up? Well, a very underrated game with a lot of tracks and it's definitely not this what he's trying to describe but the great split. Have you ever played the great split? It's a really fun game. It's like theme-less but it's if you ever have liked the I split you choose mechanism, it's just like pure I split you choose and then we move up tracks and it's really fun.

11:25 Yeah, that's that's that's a good description for it.

11:28 So.

11:29 I oddly enough have heard Terra Mystica described as spreadsheet the game.

11:34 Mhm, interesting.

11:35 Yes, by more than one person.

11:37 Okay.

11:38 And then, the second clue didn't help me at all, so I just put The Gaia Project, which is a retheme of Terra Mystica.

11:44 Sure. I was thinking my second answer falls apart when you put it with the first answer, cuz I do not think of this as spreadsheet the game. But, what's a Japanese game where you upgrade your technology? There is a game that I love where you can literally get new technology cards throughout the game, and that's Yokohama.

12:03 Oh, okay.

12:04 literally get like new technology and add it to your sort of kingdom.

12:08 okay.

12:09 So, yeah.

12:10 Yeah, I don't I don't feel I don't think any of these are it.

12:13 No, no, we're all over the place with this one.

12:15 that's very true.

12:16 Okay, well, let's find out. Yeah.

12:19 The answer to this one is Kanban. I'll accept any Kanban, although I I did mean original Kanban, but you know, whatever.

12:26 Oh.

12:29 Yeah.

12:29 Yeah, okay. Okay.

12:30 I've never played Kanban, so I don't really play heavyweight games like that. I I I lose patience.

12:38 Yeah.

12:39 And as a result, I earn no points.

12:41 And neither do I, so we are still at nine to seven here.

12:44 Okay.

12:46 This is the last one, so there's a lot riding on this. I mean, it's still close enough that if I got it on the first and you got it on the second, I would still Would I still take it? Yes, I would.

12:57 Well, then, for all of the beans,

13:00 Yeah.

13:01 no horse business,

13:02 Sure, no, not at all.

13:04 I'm sorry. No, it's fine. I just kind of thought there'd be more ducks. What's a game with a bunch of ducks, but not enough ducks?

13:13 But not enough ducks? Is there a game not enough ducks? Uh I don't like this.

13:20 I just went with a game that had a bunch of ducks. That's all.

13:24 I went with the the most obvious pun I could come up with, but I just don't have a lot of confidence. I think it's too obvious.

13:31 Sure.

13:32 So, okay.

13:34 Drink this. It'll cure what ails you. Or you might explode.

13:40 [gasps]

13:40 Dang it.

13:41 Okay, so that first clue about ducks, I thought, well, Quacksalber or just Quacks now might be it, but I thought that's too obvious. That can't be can't be it.

13:52 no ducks in it, so certainly with the name Quacks in the name, you would think that there'd be some ducks in it. So, I think that's not a bad guess.

13:59 Okay, you think there'd be at least one.

14:01 Yeah. I mean, I just went with a game that had a lot of ducks in it. And if you've never played the game Abduction, and it literally has duck in the name. There's a lot of ducks in the game though, but maybe you're like, I want more ducks. I want more ducks.

14:16 That could be. That's true. That's true.

14:17 fun light game though.

14:18 Okay. Let's uh let's see the answer before we since our final answers may determine the outcome.

14:24 That's true.

14:25 Okay.

14:25 It's Quacks. Quacks. Used to be Quacksalber, now it's just Quacks. Quacks. Yeah, I got there.

14:33 You got there.

14:33 It just wasn't early enough.

14:35 Uh well, hearing that second clue, I knew I had got there on my first one, so I just put this one.

14:43 And I made a really really smug face.

14:46 Yeah. No, I'm glad that you got there on this one because it meant that the Expedition Scythe one um didn't matter. I would have been mad if I lost on that.

14:59 So, you were still harboring that.

15:01 Yeah. Oh, I've been holding it this whole episode.

15:03 Okay.

15:04 Well, lucky. This meant that you got the win fair and square, so I've I am I I'm glad you got there on the first one and I didn't.

15:11 This made it a legitimate win.

15:12 Yes, yes, it did.

15:14 This made it where I won't be hearing about this for weeks [snorts and laughter] to come.

15:16 Yeah. Well, rematch. We got a rematch.

15:19 Well, I I with 19.

15:21 Yeah. I be the highest I've scored in anything ever.

15:25 I believe I ended up with 12.

15:28 Okay.

15:28 So, that was pretty good.

15:29 Still a very very good.

15:31 Yeah.

15:31 How many points did you end up with? Was it How many? I don't know. Why am I trying to guess?

15:38 Yeah, yeah. I bet there's somebody out there that got all of these on the first one.

15:42 Oh, I bet someone out there has a perfect score.

15:44 in you.

15:44 I I you know what? I do too. I If you are out there and you got a perfect score, let us know down the comments so that I can celebrate your life.

15:53 Yeah.

15:53 But whatever your score was, thank you so much for joining us and we'll talk to you again

15:57 Yeah, real soon.

15:58 Thanks for playing, everybody.