Every Night is Game Night

One chapter closes, another opens. Jason has started a new channel on YouTube called Shelf Stories. Please go hit those Like and Subscribe buttons, and please spread the word! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnaZ7055IWOdm8XCJfFRDcw With the beginning of the new channel, Every Night is Game Night will come to a permanent close. Before describing Shelf Stories and all of the new content over there, Jason takes a minute to thank and to express his love for all of the solo gamers who made ENGN possible. Without your enthusiasm and interaction, ENGN doesn't make it to 190 episodes. Thanks to everyone, once again, and we'll see you on the new channel. (edited) 

Let’s get right to it - this is the last episode of ENGN for the time being. Jason does this episode solo to talk to the ENGN listeners directly about why this pod will go into a bit of a hibernation period. First up, though, are some final game reviews. Jason shares about a party game (gasp!) called What Do You Meme?, an Apples to Apples variant with a visual element. Next up is The Crew: Quest for Planet Nine, a cooperative trick-taking game that has gotten a lot of great attention. Finally, Jason is happy to end on a great, fitting note with a review of Shadows of Kilforth. Please do not unsubscribe to the show! It will be going away for now, but it will return at some point when the time is right. Thank you so much for listening.

Liz Davidson has been churning out designer interviews for her YouTube channel, Beyond Solitaire. Here is another one, a chat with Morgane Gouyon-Rety, ancient history expert and designer of Pendragon and Hubris. One of Liz's main interests is the intersection of design and history, which she explores with her guest here. Original discussion - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQUqP9cAgYg&t=2530s

Jason hearkens back to a happier time in this episode when folks were allowed to have game demos in-game stores! This episode hails from the Brooklyn Strategist, a terrific game store in Brooklyn, where Rory O'Connor of Hub Games visited and demoed a few games. First up is Adventure Mart, a light deck builder depicting store owners in a fantasy convenience store, selling weapons to adventurers, and building your empire. Instead of simply buying cards, you bid for them against other players, which creates opportunities for interaction and light, friendly screwage. This one will go directly to retail very soon. We also played Prisma Arena, an arena combat game reminiscent of HeroClix with a low barrier of entry and lots of card-based tactical movement and combo play. The Kickstarter for this one will be live on Tuesday, May 19th.

If you are not a regular listener of the Board Gamers Anonymous podcast, you might not know that Jason hopped over there on episode 267 to chat about why Pandemic is his favorite game. For this episode, we are presenting that entire conversation here. Following that, Jason also did a video for the One Stop Coop Shop, ranking his favorite, Top Ten Pandemic games. The audio for that follows the conversation with the BGA fellas. It's a Pandemic cornucopia this week! If you've already listened to both pieces of audio in their respective original venues, then thanks for being a superfan, and we'll see you next week :) One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga

Jordan Shoenberger joins us again this week to discuss being stuck at home...with the kids. Specifically, how it feels to be a parent juggling work, childcare, and school for kids in the midst of a global pandemic.  Anthony joins Jason and Jordan as the three discuss what it's like to be dads in all of this, plus how gaming fits into the equation. If you're a parent at home with your kids right now, this episode is for you. 

Anthony's back this week and we have a special guest on in Jordan Shoenberger (Pittsburgh taking over!) to share their top ten beyond the hotness games at low player counts.  The guys share 20 games, plus Jason adds a few more that he missed last time to the list.  One Stop Coop Shop Slack – bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/bga

This week, Jason is happy to pass the host chair to Liz from Beyond Solitaire for two terrific interviews. The first is with David Thompson, designer of various war games including Pavlov's House, Undaunted, and others. They get into design and other gaming topics, and dip into a bit of Animal Crossing as well. Then, Liz interviews Brady Sadler about good novels to read while sheltering in place. Both of these interviews were originally posted on the Beyond Solitaire YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUbSYmhAlOW1RorV_jXmo2w One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga In Liz We Trust - Veilwraith - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tristanhall/veilwraith-a-solo-fantasy-quest-game?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=veilwraith

We’re back with lots and lots of suggestions of solo games to enjoy. These aren’t the same old suggestions, either - we go beyond the familiar recommendations and offer some games that you might never have heard of, but which we absolutely love.

Jason is back in the saddle with new weekly content. We were intending to take a longer break, but current circumstances in the world demand differently. Time to come back and reconnect with everyone. Jason is joined by Liz from Beyond Solitaire and Jeremy from Jambalaya Plays Games to check in on what we've been up to. Not too much gaming chat in this one, mostly catching up with one another and with you guys. Also, a big part of the episode is dedicated to a MASSIVE game giveaway that Jeremy is doing for folks who need some entertainment in these trying times. It is a GIVEAWAY, games for free! Head over to Jeremy's Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/119149332052973/, for more details. The giveaway begins on the day this episode goes live - Friday, March 27th. One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga

Liz and Jason rank the Oniverse Games! No more needs to be said. This episode originally aired as a video on the Beyond Solitaire YouTube channel on 3/14/20. Beyond Solitaire video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01H84yGn_4w One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga

First up, Jason wishes that everyone is safe with their families and in their communities in the face of the Covid-19 outbreak. For a bit of entertainment, we're posting a few board game parody songs from a few years ago. Here are the original videos on YouTube: We Didn't Start the Fire (7:31) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_8yzHMauBE&t=30s You'll Be Back (from the Hamilton soundtrack - 12:17) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG4Pg2SKjSw Dear Little Gamer (from the Hamilton soundtrack - 15:51) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALHRVtXhRmI Wood and Fur (from the Moana soundtrack - 19:05) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v9GyWxz-BI&t=5s

Jason had the amazing privilege of being a guest on the Play is the Thing podcast with Max Davie. This episode originally aired on July 3rd, 2019. In this episode. Max and Jason discuss trauma, treatment, board games, and some other random silliness along the way. Max's blog - https://playisthething.home.blog/One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga

This is an appearance that Jason did on the Room 51 podcast on Feb 4th, 2020. This one is about IPs in games - when they're bad and when they're good. The back half of the episode also has our Top Three IP games. Room 51 - @MelissaMakak on twitter One-Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga

Jason is joined by Liz Davidson from Beyond Solitaire this week. We have some game reviews for you, and also make an announcement. Listen to find out! First up, Jason reviews the 18 card, tile laying mini-game from Leitman Games, Squire for Hire (10:40), comparing it to some very well known contemporaries like Sprawlopolis and Circle the Wagons. Does Squire for Hire stand with these other beloved games? We then follow up with three games from Weird Giraffe Games. First up is Fire in the Library (17:41), a quick, push your luck filler game. Then we have Stellar Leap (24:18), a family friendly euro game with a space theme and 4x flavor. Finally from Weird Giraffe, we have Dreams of Tomorrow (32:11), a tactical, small box worker placement game with gorgeous art. Rounding out the episode, we have two games from Starling Games, the cerebral head-to-head deduction game Anomaly (37:46), as well as Ascendant (44:09), the expansion to Archmage from last year. One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga

Jason is joined this week by thebrandt, his good buddy from the Portal Gaming Podcast, to chat about some solo games hitting the table recently. But before we get into all of the fun, we give a heartfelt, final shout out to a podcast that came directly before this one - Low Player Count. They recently released the final episode in their run, so we'd like to thank Travis, Donny, and Shawn for blazing the trail and for being generally awesome to listen to. Kudos. For our first game, Brandt and Jason chat about Sorcerer City (5:51), a mashup of a tile-laying game and a deckbuilding game that manages to recreate the feel of both genres in interesting ways. Our second feature is Isle of Cats (21:50), the most recent tile/ puzzle game from good friend of the podcast, Frank West. Next up, we get into the re-implementation of the classic game Ghost Stories called Last Bastion (34:15), seeing whether it offers enough to differentiate itself from its predecessor. Finally, Brandt updates us on some of the latest expansions for the Marvel Champions LCG line, Ms. Marvel, Captain America, The Green Goblin, and the Wrecking Crew (41:00). In Liz We Trust - Wonderland's War - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/druidcitygames/wonderlands-war?ref=discovery&term=wonderland%27s%20warOne Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga

Jason is back in the chair solo this week, and can't believe it's taken 176 episodes to get to this topic!   Jason is a licensed, practicing psychotherapist in Connecticut who has used board games in his therapy for almost a decade. Along with way, Jason has accrued some go-to board games for different situations, dealing with mental health and wellness. Some of these include: Promoting cognitive sharpness (4:53, including a review of Brain Waves: The Astute Goose, a memory game from Dr. Reiner Knizia). Connecting with teenagers (25:25) Managing Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (36:29) Coping with Anxiety (42:32) Coping with Depression (57:04) One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bgaIn Liz We Trust - Genotype: A Mendelian Genetics Game - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geniusgames/genotype-a-mendelian-genetics-game?ref=discovery&term=genotype

For our 175th episode (nice round number!), Jason welcomes Dice Tower veteran and current outreach manager for Mythic Games, Sam Healey. He is famous in the gaming community for his love of miniatures in board games, so we could think of no on better to chat about the subject. We answer the critical question - what is the point of them? Jason gets to play some fun Devil’s advocate in this one! We then get into Sam’s Top Ten Board Games with miniatures (38:00), which hopefully will give you some ideas about what to get if you want to explore the world of minis a bit further. Finally, we briefly mention the Best in Class for solo gamer miniature games, by popular acclaim - Kingdom Death: Monster. This is a long one, but worthy. Hope you all agree!

Liz from Beyond Solitaire is back to chat about two of our favorite things - games and history! We have two games for review this week. The first is Days of Ire (2:52), a classic cooperative game (or 1 vs. many game) depicting the struggle of revolutionaries during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The game was released in 2016, yet much of the gameplay still holds up today. The follow-up to Days of Ire, entitled Nights of Fire (12:52), delivered to Kickstarter backers this past year. Nights of Fire is much more of a traditional wargame with Euro elements. It depicts the Soviets striking back against the Hungarian revolutionaries, and the players job (in the solo and coop) is to save civilians and delay the oncoming Soviets as much as possible. After all of that gaming goodness, Liz and Jason geek out and chat about the historical background of both games. We are NOT scholars of the time period by any means. We may have misstated a few of the elements (or more than a few). However, we are both very interested to learn, and also very happy to help interested gamers gain access to these two games in a whole new way. One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga

We roll on with our Best in Class series with one of the most popular genres out there. Thanks so much to everyone who has given positive feedback on the "Best in Class" format so far - we like it, and we'd love to keep bringing it to you! This week, Jason and friends tackle deckbuilding games. When Jason put out the call on twitter to explore deckbuilding games, lots of folks responded who wanted to share their favorites. We take all of those clips and organize them into a Top Ten! We also reach into the wayback machine for some previous content to round out the episode, including when a game designer stopped by the show to share why his deckbuilding game is the Best in Class. Thanks to everyone who helped out with the episode! Board Game Crockpot - https://boardgamecrockpot.blog/author/crocko33/ Room 51 - https://anchor.fm/room51 Sarah Reed - at_eurogamergirl on Twitter Game All Night - https://www.gameallniteshow.com/ One Stop Coop Shop - bit.ly/onestopslack In Liz we Trust - Warp's Edge - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/renegadegamestudios/warps-edge

Our Best in Class companion series to the Top 100 Solo Games People's Choice rolls on! Today, Jason is ecstatic to welcome back a friend of the show, Adam Smith from Rolling Solo. This man knows more about recent dungeon crawl games than any other content creator out there. We get into what we like about dungeon crawl games, as well as what distinguishes them from other thematic adventure games (which we covered last week). After that, we get into Adam's Top Ten, which he has also presented as a video over on his Rolling Solo channel. The Best in Class for dungeon-crawling games, according to solo gamers, is Gloomhaven. Did it make the top of Adam's list, as well? In Liz We Trust - Black Sonata: The Fair Youth - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sideroomgames/black-sonata-the-fair-youth?ref=discovery&term=fair%20youth One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga

Jason is happy to welcome a long-time listener, first-time caller Corey Mayo to the pod! He is very, very well known among solo gamers who frequent BGG or Facebook, as he always has something to say about the games of the day. In this episode, we talk about Corey's favorite genre - thematic adventure games. We get into our working definition of thematic adventure and debate whether many people's number one solo game of all time, Mage Knight, falls into that definition. Corey then shows some love to some underrated games, with Jason in the peanut gallery sharing about a few more.

Jason was lucky enough to visit PAX Unplugged earlier this month, and is eager to share about his experiences! Like the last few PAX recaps, not only does Jason give his own perspective (this time as a demoer for Starling Games teaching Everdell to 36 different groups), but we also hear from a few friends. All of these voices should be very familiar to regular ENGN listeners - Liz Davidon, Michael Kelley, Jeremy Howard, Brenna Noonan, Mike Dilisio, and more! In additon, we also have previews from some big upcoming projects in 2020 - Frosthaven from Cephalophair Games, Return to Dark Tower from Restoration Games, and Final Girl from Van Ryder Games. Jason also shows Van Ryder double love with a quick review of Bees: The Secret Kingdom. We at ENGN hope that everyone is having a very happy and healthy holiday season! One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga

For our last episode before the holiday season, we are happy to bring to you Jason's patented "headspace" reviews for some fun games, as well as a great idea for a last-minute stocking stuffer. First up, Jason reviews Coraline: Beware the Other Mother, a quick and quirky solo/ coop card game with some neat integration of the Coraline movie IP (2:42). Second, Jason covers Nemo Rising (11:45), the cooperative adventure game in a steampunk universe (that happens to have nothing, nothing at all to do with Nemo's War!). Finally, Jason is very happy to welcome Paul Grogan from Gaming Rules back onto the show to discuss the new Adventure Games from Kosmos (19:50). Two modules are released already - Monochrome Inc. and The Dungeon. We get into the story elements, rewarding cleverness, the app companion, and other angles. We also compare the Adventure Games to other escape room games like Exit and Unlock, as well as games like TIME Stories and a few others. One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga

Welcome to part two of our mini-series of episodes. Following up on the Top 200 Solo Games People's Choice list that is now live on BGG, we are taking a closer look at different genres represented within that list, and also enjoyed by gamers everywhere. Anthony and Jason shift over to talk about one of their personal favorites - strategic card games. First, we get into some of the reason why folks love the genre so much. After that, Anthony gets into his Top Ten Strategic Card Games. If you are a regular listener, you know what landed at number one! Finally, we get into an extended discussion about the Best in Class worker placement game for the Top 200, a new debut this year - Wingspan. We get into why people love it, why others have some difficulty with it, and how it compares to some of our other favorites. One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bgaIn Liz We Trust - Divinity: Original Sin - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/larianstudios/divinity-original-sin-the-board-game?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=divinity%20original%20sin4. As an added bonus, Jason demoed this game at PAX and gives some of his extended thought. Campaign ends in one week on 12/20!

Welcome to a new mini-series of episodes that we are starting here on ENGN. Following up on the Top 200 Solo Games People's Choice list that is now live on BGG, we are taking a closer look at different genres represented within that list, and also enjoyed by gamers everywhere. To kick things off, Anthony and Jason chat about the worker placement genre of games. First, we get into some of the reason why folks love the genre so much. After that, Anthony gets into his Top Ten Worker Placement games that really bring the strategic thunder, followed up by Jason who provides some lighter fare to round out this group. Finally, we get into an extended discussion about the Best in Class worker placement game for the Top 200 for every year it's been on the list -Viticulture. We get into why people love it, what makes it stand out, and whether you should seek it out for your collection One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga In Liz We Trust - 5 Minute Mystery - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wiggles3d/5-minute-mystery?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=5%20minute%20mystery

The second part of ENGN's biggest episode is here, the fourth annual! Kevin Erskine once again joins Jason and Liz for commentary on the Top 200 Solo Games list, currently unfolding on BGG. For this episode, we chat about the cluster of games that has truly emerged as the canon of solo gaming. Many of the games are the same, but there were also a few surprise debuts as well. This list is the very best resource for solo gamers to find out which games are actually getting played and which games are great for our community. We are happy to cover it every year. This list is also ENGN’s gift guide for the holidays. Between these last two ENGN episodes and Episode 248 of Board Gamers Anonymous, we have your holiday gaming needs covered! One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bgaTop 200 Solo Games People's Choice - https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/264253/2019-peoples-choice-top-200-solo-games-200-41/page/1

ENGN's biggest episode is here, the fourth annual! Kevin Erskine joins Jason and Liz for commentary to break for the Top 200 Solo Games list, currently unfolding on BGG. Which games rose and fell, what were big surprises and debuts, we get into all of that and more for the first 150 games on the big list. This list is the very best resource for solo gamers to find out which games are actually getting played and which games are great for our community, so we are happy to do cover it every year. This list is also ENGN’s gift guide for the holidays. Between this one and the latest episode of Board Gamers Anonymous, we have your holiday gaming needs covered! We don't spoil the very top of the list, which will be revealed next week. So, please feel free and enjoy! One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga Top 200 Solo Games People's Choice - https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/264253/2019-peoples-choice-top-200-solo-games-200-41/page/1

We have a full episode dedicated to the biggest hotness of Fall 2019, Marvel Champions LCG. Jason is joined by theBrandt from the Portal Gaming Podcast as well as Steve from the One Stop Coop Shop to break down Marvel Champions LCG from all angles. We cover Jason's category of the "thematic headspace" that the game wants to put you in (i.e., does it make you feel like a hero?), as well as the hand management, the deckbuilding, the missions... well, everything you could ask for, short of strategy! We also compare Marvel LCG to it's closest gaming competitors, Sentinels of the Multiverse and Marvel Legendary. Hopefully, you get enough from this podcast to get you started... if you haven't started already! One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga In Liz We Trust - Hour of Need - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blacklistgames/hour-of-need?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=hour%20of%20need

This one is a VERY different episode than we've done in a while. No game reviews this time, just a very interesting discussion topic. Many thanks to ENGN listener Liz Blake Benson for reaching out and suggesting this episode! Following up on that, Jason put the call out on Twitter (@engn_podcast) and was happy to get a response from Jason Peacock of the Dice Tower to chat! So much friendliness and interaction in our little gaming community. Jason and Jason chat about two general topics - building a game room and maintaining a collection. Jason is a professional carpenter and has put a lot of love and care into his gaming space, so he has lots of tips in terms of tables, shelving, painting miniatures, and all sorts of other little bits that can help flesh out a great game room. In the second part, we get into growing a collection, including some personal stories about how we grew our own collections and how we approach keeping and culling. One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga In Liz We Trust - Arkeis - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ankamaboardgames/arkeis-a-cooperative-story-driven-campaign-board-game

For the first part of this episode, Jason rides solo and brings you some fun for the Halloween holiday. First up is Skulk Hollow (4:10), or Shadow of the Colossus: the board game. Lifeform follows after that (14:59), which is yet another crack at Alien: the board game. Finally, we have the next big, horror-themed expansion for Robinson Crusoe: Mystery Tales (29:09). After all the gaming fun, Jason is proud to welcome the Mega Meeple, Thomas Grogan, to the pod for the first time. We get into a personal chat about some of the stuff he has struggled with in his life, and how gaming helped him turn things around and find happiness. Like the personal chat before this, if you want to keep things light and fun, please enjoy the gaming-centered content in the first half of the episode. For those who listen on, we hope you find something inspiring in Tom's story.

ENGN 161 - Post-GenCon 2019 Wrap-Up, Part 7 - More Hot and Heavy EurosJason was very happy to contribute to the last episode on Hot and Heavy Euros. This week, we have more for you, but Jason has played none of these and has to keep his trap shut! Instead, we invite back Jeremy from Jambalaya Plays Games to help out Anthony and finish off our grand tour of games from GenCon 2019 (finally)! First up is Escape Plan (3:08), a surprisingly easy to play offering from noted heavy game designer Vital Lacerda about getting loot and escaping the town ahead of the authorities - not your usual Euro theming, for sure. The next one up is Ragusa (12:56), a new economic and worker placement design from the maker of Calimala, Fabio Lopiano. Getting even crunchier, the guys chat about the latest in the Imperial Settlers line of games, Empires of the North (20:27). We get into how it tries to offer something different from the original Imperial Settlers and whether it's worth a look if you already own or like that one. Finally, we round out this entire run of games with one of the truly hottest games from the show, one that will undoubtedly come back again during the year-end award season, Black Angel (35:47). One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga In Liz We Trust - Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadowborne-games/oathsworn-into-the-deepwood?ref=discovery&term=oathsworn

Our wrap-up of games from GenCon rolls on! Anthony has returned with a heavy helping of Euro fun. We begin with an expansion to one of Anthony favorite games from the last few years, Teotihuacan: Late Preclassic Period (4:17). That subtitle is not a typo, that's really the name. Are the contents inside as... well, bad as this name? Jason then hops back into chat about Lockup: A Roll Player Tale (12:06). While this one is not quite a "hot and heavy" Euro, it sneaks in there because it of it's worker placement mechanisms, combined with a healthy dose of Poker-esque tension and reading others at the table. Anthony hops back in to chat about Sierra West (21:47) which, like Teotihuacan, is another offering from Board&DIce, so you know it pays some attention to its solo offering. We end the episode on two games with civ-building themes. First, Jason talks about Gentes (29:13), a game that manipulates action economy in fun ways. Finally, Anthony hits us with the big hype of the day, Tapestry from Stonemaier Games (40:43). One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bgaIn Liz We Trust - Vamp on the Batwalk - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/goldnuggetgames/vamp-on-the-batwalk?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=vamp%20on%20the%20 

Jason is happy to be joined by the host of Solo BG, Dereck Rodriguez, for a MEGA-length preview pod - our longest one! However, this episode is so much more than a preview. Yes, we chat with Adam and Brady Sadler about the new KS project launching in November, Hour of Need - how it works, some design choices, and the fact that it is indeed different from the previous Modular Deck System games (think of the MDS like, say, the COIN system - very different games, even within the same system). However, we talk about so much more. Adam and Brady reveal some of the inner workings at Blacklist Games, getting a small publisher started, and feeding the demands of the Kickstarter content beast. They also answer Jason's critical questions about their previous two MDS games - Street Masters and Brook City. Finally, all four of us share our Top Three Things in Comic Books - characters, storylines, team-ups, anything. We get into Marvel vs. DC, lots of different Robins, a commentary on the new Joker movie... the dork factor is really, really strong in this episode. We hope you have as much fun listening as we did recording!

Liz and Jeremy are back once again to talk about some bigger, meatier projects. Many of these were featured at the big show in Indy this past year, so into the wrap-up they go! Liz starts us off with Detective: City of Angels (10:16), the highly thematic case-solving game from Van Ryder Games that will unfortunately not hit retail due to scale and cost. Go ahead and check Kickstarter, as well as some conventions, if you want to get hold of this one. Next, Jeremy gives us some knowledge about Gugong (16:38), a mid-weight economic game set in the Forbidden City in China. Liz then jumps back in to share about a “dudes on a map”-type game with a slick auction system, Rurik: Dawn of Kiev (22;37). We wrap up with one of the most buzzed-about games at the whole con, the MOBA-style combat game with competitive, cooperative, and solo modes, Cloudspire from Chip Theory Games (31:36). One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga In Liz We Trust - Time of Legends: Destinies - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/destinies/time-of-legends-destinies?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=Destiny%20time%20of%20legends 

We interrupt our romp through all the hotness from GenCon to bring you a MEGA-sized podcast. You guys know that Jason likes to keep episodes to under an hour in length. However, Tristan Hall from Hall or Nothing Productions is too much fun to talk to, so we decided to keep it all! Tristan stops by for three reasons. First, he is here to preview a project called 1565: St. Elmo's Pay. This is the follow up to 1066: Tears to Many Mothers, a historical war-themed card game for 1-2 players. This project launches today, October 4th. Second, at around 15:56 we have a big, fat Top Ten list for you - Top Ten Games for a Low Player Count (1-2 players). This list was originally meant to be Top Ten Card Games for 1-2 players, but Tristan breaks all the rules! So, our individual lists might be a bit lopsided, but that's ok - it's geeks chatting about a top ten. What's not to like? Finally, at a whooping 1:09:38 or so, Tristan and Jason put on the old amateur historian hats and break down the historical background of 1565: St. Elmo's Pay. The game is soaked in historical flavor which we are very, very excited to share. If you play this game and wonder where the Barrage of Heads card came from, this is the segment for you! This last past is very different than what you might be used to from ENGN. If you like (or don't like) what you hear, please reach out to us and let us know if you want us to do more historical deep dives behind games. One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga

The Kickstarter Squad is back! Liz from Beyond Solitaire and Jeremy from Jambalaya Plays Games have returned to being you the latest and greatest of delivered Kickstarter projects. As serendipity would have it, these games were all featured at GenCon 2019 as well (yeah, I know the big show was over a month ago, but... branding!) First up, Jason shares about Everdell: Pearlbrook (8:30), the first expansion to one of the real surprise hits from last year. Two more expansions for Everdell happen to be live on Kickstarter as we speak, so check out of Jason and Liz think they are worth your time. Jeremy then jumps in to chat about another worker placement game, Reavers of Midgard (12:54). This one is the follow up (spiritual successor, maybe?) to the very popular Champions of Midgard from Grey Fox Games. Liz gets the middle spot with the biggest game we review this episode, Pax Pamir (22:31). Jason and Jeremy then follow up with two lighter games that are nevertheless really fun, the real-time cooperative zombie survival game Until Daylight (31:05), and the card dueling game Unmatched (41:11). After all that fun, we get into a brief but spirited discussion about the rising price of games. Not just KS projects, but seemingly all games. We probably didn't come to any conclusions, but we had fun venting our spleens a bit. One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bgaIn Liz We Trust - Everdell: Belfaire and Everdell: Spirecrest - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/starlinggames/everdell-spirecrest-and-bellfaire?ref=discovery&term=everdell

Jason is happy to welcome Michael Melkonian to the show to talk about Dance Card, a highly thematic card game with a theme of high school students having fun at a dance recital. There's set collection, dice rolling, and maybe most importantly for ENGN fans, solo and coop mode. Check it out as Michael talks about the development of Dance Card, not only it's mechanisms and thematic integration, but also larger issues of representation as well. Michael is a super, super excited guy, and it was a joy to talk to him. (The aftershow is completely random basketball talk that I felt like keeping in there for... reasons. For those in the Venn diagram of board gaming and basketball fans, enjoy! If not, the aftershow is very skippable!).

Our (belated yet still hopefully valuable) GenCon coverage rolls on, this time with some short games that use dice to make them go. First up, Jason shares about Unbroken (4:46), a resource management game of survival that is optimized for the one player experience. Jason wanted to review the game independently of some of the controversy surrounding it's Kickstarter fulfillment, so we get into that right at the beginning. If you want to hear further thoughts about the situation, please stay tuned until the end of the episode. Then, Anthony chats about the newest Matt Leacock dice game, Era: Medieval Age (13:47). This one is a follow up to Roll Through the Ages, one of the grandaddies of the roll n write genre, only this new version has player boards, toy buildings, and a lot more! Jason then jumps back in with (spoiler alert) one of his favorite dice games that he has played in a very long time, Mageling (24:31). Finally, we wrap up with Anthony in all of his roll n write glory, providing quick reviews of a pile of them that he got at GenCon, including Brikks, Second Chance, Deadly Doodles, Dizzle, Patchwork Doodle, On Tour and Cartographers. One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga In Liz We Trust - Detective: City of Angels: Smoke and Mirrors - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vanrydergames/detective-city-of-angels-and-new-expansion?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=detective%20city%20of%20angels

Today, Anthony is back from his summer hiatus! And we have even more family weight games for your enjoyment, either with your family or as a solo gamer. We start with two games that take familiar pieces of culture and make fun games out of them - The Fifty Nine Parks Print Series in the game Parks (6:38), and the Periodic Table of Elements in Periodic: A Game of Elements (12:30). We then turn to two more games that happened to do really well on Kickstarter - a nifty card drafting game called Villagers (19:36), and the next in the very popular Tiny Epic product line, Tiny Epic Mechs (29:31). We end with a dexterity game that has a lot of charm and excitement, Megacity Oceanea (39:19). Well, we really don't end there - there's more after the outro music, but we well let everyone discover that for themselves! One Stop Coop Shop Slack - bit.ly/onestopslack BGA Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/bga In Liz We Trust - Squire for Hire - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jonmerchant/squire-for-hire-micro-tile-based-card-game?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=squire%20for%20hire

We're starting a bit late this year, but that's ok! We are here for you to provide reviews of a TON of games from GenCon 2019. Get buckled in for a series of episodes to cover it all. Helping Jason for Part One of our Wrapup coverage are Colin and Steve from the One Stop Coop Shop podcast and YouTube channel. Before we get into the games, we announced the creation of a new fan group for Every Night is Game Night over at the One Stop Coop Shop Slack channel. We go over how it works in the show. If you are interested in joining a small, engaged part of the ENGN fandom and have direct access to me and my content, please join us! Just click this link: bit.ly/onestopslack We cram 6 games into an hour of fun for this episode. We got: Roll for Adventure (7:01) Legendary: A James Bond Deckbuilding Game (15:15) Horrified (21:20) Pandemic: Rapid Response (32:53) Arkham Horror: Final Hour (43:22) Quirky Circuits (51:27)

Jason welcomes Jordan Shoenberger, host of the Second Chance Shelf segment from Board Game Breakfast, to the show for the first time. Before we get swept up in the madness of all the new releases of 2019 (believe me, people, there are MANY episodes of new hotness coming), we slow things down and talk about what we love about finding rare gems and pulling old, beloved games off of the shelf. We then get into some reviews of some older games for lots of different tastes. Jason begins with Citadel of Blood (14:18), a relic of an earlier generation of dice-based dungeon crawling games that nevertheless holds some charm and also some design ideas for a newer generation. Jordan then shares about a hidden favorite among solo gamers, Walnut Grove (20:47). Thanks so much to Jordan for being someone who actually has that game and wanted to talk about it! Next up, Jason talks about Bethel Woods, a simple game with a Mancala-esque mechanism that's fairly unique in the cooperative space (29:45). Finally, Jordan takes us home with one of his favorite games to play in all situations, especially with his spouse, Taluva (35:42).

Jason welcomes good friend Gary Pope from the Dice Tower to talk about... uh, talking! Games first, though. Jason shares about World Shapers, a rare drafting game with a solo variant from Board&Dice that attempts to put its own spin and advance upon games like 7 Wonders and Tides of Time. Then, Gary sings the praises of one of his favorite games over the past few years, Heroes of Land, Air, and Sea. For our discussion, Jason and Gary pull from their experiences as a marriage counselor and forum moderator, respectively, to chat about how we help people who disagree talk to one another. Is it possible to strike a balance between keeping forum spaces safe, but also allowing critical conversation? What can we do when people start to take conversations personally? We get into these and many other questions. In Liz We Trust - Burgle Bros 2 - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fowers/burgle-bros-2-the-casino-capers

We have two separate segments for you this week. First, Brandt from the Portal Gaming Podcast joins Jason to chat about SpaceCorp 2025-2300 AD, a card driven space exploration game that plays more like a Euro than what we're used to from GMT. Second, Jason and Liz are joined by a listener, Tommy Ray, to chat about how they have recently gotten into wargaming. There's a lot of barriers to overcome - where to start, how to get used to the massive time investment, becoming a part of that community, etc. We break it all down, including some game talk about favorites like GMT's Falling Sky and DVG's Thunderbolt Apache Leader. We hope this helps you open up another avenue of gaming in your life. In Liz we Trust - Cosmic Run: Express - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/337407318/cosmic-run-express-promo-packs?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=cosmic%20run

We made it to Episode 150! To mark the occasion, Jason is going to try a whole new style of reviewing games, which will hopefully stick moving forward. Jason is very interested in the psychological experience of a board game, whether its the thematic, imaginative immersion it generates or the strategic, logical challenge it presents. That distinction folds nicely in with the concept in pop psychology of the "right brain" (creative, "big picture') and "left brain" (analytical, detail-oriented). So, when Jason reviews games moving forward, the critical questions will be about game experience from these two perspectives. Unless, of course, you all think this is a terrible idea. If so, please let me know! The first game for review is Waters of Nereus (19:17), a simple economic, convert-stuff-into-more-stuff-into-points game with a touch of exploration and spatial movement to complement. Next up is Crisis at Steamfall (26:51), a tactical game with a significant Euro feel, especially in the way you build the actions and resources of your heroes over the course of three rounds. Finally, we get into the action cop movie, heavily thematic experience that is Brook City (36:26), fresh from the Sadler Brothers and Blacklist Games. In Liz we Trust: Sleeping Gods - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/953146955/sleeping-gods?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=sleeping%20gods

There's a lot going on in Jason's life nowadays! We're slowing down the content train once again so we could catch up a bit. No new ENGN content this week. In the meantime, please enjoy this conversation that happened last week on Board Gamers Anonymous. Chris and his friend Jen discuss women in gaming - feeling comfortable in gaming spaces, different ways in which women and men interact at the table, little ways to make things better, and a ton more. Jason was a huge fan of the convo and will follow up with some thoughts or a guest discussion... uh, eventually :slightly_smiling_face:. BGA blog post from Jen - https://boardgamersanonymous.com/bras-and-boardgames/

Jason welcomes Rob Daviau to the pod for the first time to chat storytelling in gaming, joined also by ENGN veterans Peter and Mike from the One-Stop Coop Shop podcast. We get into some of the essential differences between old school and new school game design, and whether the different approaches and philosophies generate different stories (better? worse? basically the same?) at the table. As far as game commentary, we get into the original Dark Tower and some of the modernization challenges that Restoration Games has faced. We also chat about some of the differences between Pandemic Legacy Season One vs. Season Two, and whether the different approaches to the overall story were equally effective across the two games. We certainly cover lots of ground in this one.

We're back! ENGN listeners know that Jason loves his big, honking adventure games. A really clever and unique one from Letzring Games will launch on Kickstarter this Monday, July 29th. We're chatting Adventure Tactics: Domianne's Tower from three different perspectives - the deck construction and tactical planning on the hero side, the set-piece, cinematic nature of combat in the system, and a whimsical fantasy story. If you've ever wanted to play Final Fantasy Tactics on a big board, this one might be for you.

A few episodes ago, Jason shared about his personal journey with depression in a personal chat segment. The response was very heartening - folks seemed to resonate with it and expressed their appreciation in a few private messages. Thank you! We all have a journey, or a personal story with some pain in it. Jeremy from Jambalaya Plays Games stops by and shares some of his own experiences, struggles, and successes. That will happen in the back half of the episode (38:52). For the first part of the episode, please enjoy some game reviews! We have two very opposite games for you this week - the abstract, family weight, city building game Tiny Towns (6:50) and the thematic, adventure card game experience Legends Untold (20:09). If you listen to ENGN just to have fun, please enjoy the first half! However, if you want to hear about the personal journey of a good friend and his efforts to stay happy and creating content for himself and for all of you, then I invite you to listen to his story. Please reach out to him at Jambalaya Plays Games on many, many social media platforms. and interact with him - he's not a hard man to find! Kickstarter segment: Isle of Cats by Frank West - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcokgame/the-isle-of-cats?ref=discovery&term=isle%20of%20cats

We have more game reviews this week, as well as something of a follow-up on last week's conversation about the psychology of cheating in board games. We welcome Anthony back to the show to discuss Aerion, the latest in the Oniverse series (3:55), then Jason talks about a unique, push-your-luck take on deckbuilding, Heroes of Tenefyr (14:01). Finally, Jason revisits the topic of the psychology of cheating, but in a different way. The board gaming community became wrapped up in some controversy this past week - a creator was noted for committing plagiarism on their blog. A lot of "naming and shaming" happened, as well as people wondering why anyone would be driven to plagiarize. Jason shares about some of the pit traps that creators can face - they're much more common than you might think. In Liz we Trust - Roll Player: Fiends and Familiars - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1152516291/roll-player-fiends-and-familiars-expansion?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=roll%20player

Shout out to Marcus Brissman over in the Sporadically Board Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/510403706050913/ - who put up an excellent, interesting thread on cheating in board games a few weeks ago. In response, Jason reached out to a blogger on BGG who wrote about cheating in board games a few years ago, Dr. Corey Butler, professor of social psychology at Southwest Minnesota State University. What drives people to cheat? Who cheats? How often does it occur? For those who have cheated, how do they justify their behavior? If you cheat at a solo game and no one sees, does it count as cheating? We attempt to answer these and more questions about the psychological aspects of cheating. In Liz we Trust: Legends of Novus - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fundamentalgames/legends-of-novus?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=legends%20of%20novus