Episode 28 - Listener's Choice
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28: Listener's Choice Release Date: Apr. 30, 2007 Running Time: 100 min. Listen Now: Download: Enhanced Version - MP3 Version
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Turn the tables! We let you call the shots. From The List to The Game Sommelier, every segment in the show comes from listener suggestions and submissions.
News & Notes: Mr. Jack, Walter Hunt's GoF blog, Name That Game
The List: Die Macher, Railroad Tycoon
Backshelf Spotlight: Skittles, Shove Ha'penny
Truckloads of Goober: Fire & Axe
Game Sommelier: Five games for a LOST party that reflect the characters
Mail Bag: Tom Vasel's Sommelier response, storing games when traveling
Complete Show Notes continue after the break.
Game News & Notes
Mr. Jack Link
(submitted by Scotty "Knucklebones" Dickey)
One player tries to find "The Ripper," the other tries to keep him from getting caught.
Walter Hunt's Gathering of Friends Blog Report link
(submitted by Walter Hunt)
The Gathering of Friends is an annual invite-only event in Ohio. Walter had the good fortune to attend and gives a great review and report on the games he played. He's also a science fiction author . Good stuff!
Dragon, Dungeon, and Games Quarterly ceasing publication
Games Quarterly is gone for good, but Wizard of the Coast plans to offer online content in place of Dragon and Dungeon magazines. I remain unconvinced this will fill the clear need for a good monthly role playing publication. Here's Paizo's press release on the end of both mags.
Back Shelf Forums
Instead of sending your guesses for the Spotlight connection, post them to the forums from now on! That way, everyone can see the great guesses and maybe it will give you a hint or two. :)
Name That Game
The newest contest on The Spiel! Each episode will feature a clue. The clue will appear at a random point in the show and will be identifiable by a musical introduction. The answer to the clue will always be the name of a game. Send your guesses in via email with the subject: Name That Game. The first person to name the game will win a free game. The first prize for the contest will be Rage , by Fundex Games , a reprint of the classic German card game. We'll post the winners on the site as soon as we have one. Good luck!
The List
Die Macher BGG entry (#1 Listener's Choice Poll)
Seven elections determine the fate of Germany... with little wooden cubes!
Railroad Tycoon BGG entry (#2 Listener's Choice Poll)
Sell stock, build tracks, deliver goods and try to stay out of debt.
Backshelf Spotlight: Pub Games
(submitted by Pete Marlowe)
Mystery Connection Contest
Can you find a connection between these two games? We find a mystery connection each episode and challenge you, the listener, to hunt for it! Post your guesses to the Forum. Find the connection and you could win a pair of laser cut custom Spiel dice !
Congratulations to Tim Rogers in Greenville, SC for finding our mystery connection in Episode 27!
Skittles Link
The forerunner to 10 pin bowling
Shove Ha'penny Link
Scoot your coins along the board and rest them between the bed lines.
Truckloads of Goober
(submitted by David Siskin)
Fire & Axe BGG Entry
Who knew viking warriors dressed in such happy colors!
Game Sommelier
The Challenge: find five games for a LOST (tv show) party that also evoke some aspect of the characters.
Thanks to listeners Cameron Iwon in Douglas, Nebraska and Ian Mackey. Matthew Eskridge for the double barreled mega-challenge!
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Stephen's List |
Dave's Vote |
| King's Breakfast (Hurley) | Thumbs Up |
| Royal Turf (Kate) | Thumbs Up |
| Dragon's Gold (Sawyer) | Thumbs Up |
| San Gimignano (Sayid) | Thumbs Down |
| Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers (Locke) | Thumbs Up |
| Kill Doctor Lucky (Jack) | Thumbs Up |
Next Challenge: find five games to play with co-workers during your luinchbreak. Submitted by Andy Miner from Madison, WI.
Mail Bag
New donors to The Spiel!
"The Dread Pirate" Mark Weaver in Howard, PA
Patrik "Skallywag" Stenstrom in Stockholm, Sweden
John "Man O' War" Edwards in Riva, Maryland
Listener's Choice Poll: What's your favorite game historical period/genre? #1 Medieval Europe, #2 Ancient Greece/Rome
Tom Vasel send in an audio response to his Sommelier Challenge from Episode 26.
Jake Di Toro has questions about storing games for travel.
Errata
I'm sure there are some other goofs in there somewhere. Let us know if (when?) you find one!
Comments
Mailbag
That's for the feedback Dave. Sadly, I'd hoped for an answer, but if it doesn't exist...
And amazingly you got the name right on. You wouldn't believe the ways it gets butchered.
Keep up the good work.
Till Later,
Jake
Nice Extended Features...
Great use of the extended podcast images. I happened to look over while you were talking about the different parts of Die Macher. Those little blue arrows were a nice touch! I almost didn't believe what I was seeing. :)
Thanks, Unco! It was a real
Thanks, Unco!
It was a real challenge to line all the pics up, but I thought it was necessary if anyone was to really understand what I was talking about! I'm relieved to know it actually worked as I intended. Whew!
Stephen
The Somalia(s)
Hi, all! Just started listening - enjoying the show! Just wanted to send some comments:
First, the lists:
- Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers (Locke): that's pretty good!
- Kill Doctor Lucky (Jack) also good, but it doesn't quite fit the game if you have the Others chasing him: they are NOT trying to prevent each other from killing, and they are not working as individuals
- King's Breakfast (Hurley): yeah, I guess so. But the food-Hurley connection is too easy. How about something like Coda because of his obsession with numbers? Or California, because of his fancy house (and he's from CA isn't he?).
- Royal Turf (Kate): yeah, OK. But have you LOOKED at Kate? But yeah, I guess I'd give you that one.
- Dragon's Gold (Sawyer): Ca$h'n Gun$ is a much better choice.
- San Gimignano (Sayid): haven't played it, but it sounds like a poor choice.
- What about Ben? Really, anything more specifically tied to the Others. I was expecting to see Intrigue or Diplomacy in your list ... probably Intrigue (Ben).
And then, Tom's challenge: I haven't played Prince, Machiavelli, or Age of Renaissance; I'd be willing to try them, I suppose. I agree with Tom, though, about Serenissima: that game is good because of the theme. Traders of Genoa, however, gets a thumbs down. I think it's a great game, but not because of the renaissance theme (you are just trading cubes and chits).
Incidentally, re: Railroad Tycoon. Yes, it's pretty good. But Age of Steam is better :p! Well, they're different ... depends on what you're after. The new edition of AoS (3rd edition) will be better than RT, I think; and it will at least fit on a normal gaming table!
The Somalia(s)
- Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers (Locke): I give this one a thumb's up, but my thought on Locke was Destination Tresor (aka Discovery Island) and the constant searching I associate with Locke
- Kill Doctor Lucky (Jack) - decent choice as this reflects the original idea that I was trying to suggest in that pick games that show you have some understanding of the the characters personality although Doctor Lucky is something of a dodgy guy
- King's Breakfast (Hurley): - yep if you say Lost and King's breakfast, no need to guess which character
- Royal Turf (Kate): Thumbs up .
- Dragon's Gold (Sawyer): Give this one a thumbs part way down, I see your connection, but without specifying the character first, I wouldn't land on this game. To me, seems more suited to a good pirate game.
- San Gimignano (Sayid): haven't played it either sorry.
I give it 3 out of 4 thumbs and 1 ?? Thanks for taking the suggestion.
On a side note, on the comment about rubber bands and storage with cards, something I do in order to try to keep the original insert in the box if there isn't room to bag the cards is to cut a 1 inch wide strip of paper from a 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper (using wifes scrapbook table top rotary cutter which is an essential took for prototype creation too) and create a 'belt' for the deck of cards to protect from rubber band decay. This allow the safe usage of rubber bands and placement in made to fit inserts. It also protects from any marking to cards from pressure too.
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Die Macher
I recently played Die Macher for the first time too. Things were going along quite well and I had built a commanding lead...until the final election! One thing that had never come up in our game until that point was the fact that coalitions can exceed 50 votes (but individual parties cannot)!
This one line in the rulebook changes the entire game! With this, the leader in an election must seek out a party with less votes to join with to ensure a victory, even if they can max out their votes and have the final move of the turn. That means that even if you only have a few votes going into an election, you can probably sell them to the leader to shore up their position against #2 and #3's possible coalition. It also means that the timing of when you play those cards with the telephones is crucial!
I'm looking forward to game two as this game is MUCH deeper and more subtle than I originally thought. Great game.
Die Macher coalitions
Yes, coalitions being able to go over 50 votes is very important. If I did mention it in the rundown of the rules, I probably didn't emphasize it enough. We played a three player game and coalitions formed pretty quickly, especially when one person realized the only chance they might have to win was to throw their lot in with one of the two others. Lots of room for wheeling and dealing, especially when you knew you could assure victory with 51 votes.
There's a lot to keep track of in Die Macher, but once you understand the flow of a typical game turn, I think a lot of the fun is in balancing "what do I do right now" with "what do I do three turns from now" Hurts the brain, but in a good way. :)
Stephen