Unnecessary Gaming: Recent Episodes
Chris, Euan, Pawel, and Dave
A podcast about tabletop and video games, old and new, brought to you with a chunk of chat and banter by Chris, Euan, Dave, and sometimes Pawel, from Edinburgh, Scotland. Previously known as The Large and Unnecessary First Player Token Podcast. Some strong language and even stronger accents throughout.
Part of the Podnose network!
Email us: unncgaming@gmail.com
Video Games: In this episode Big Daddy Euan has been zapping, punching and drilling through the first two Bioshock games. After that, Dave has been experiencing Shenmue in its animated form. Does it do justice to the greatest game ever made? Find out in Episode 131.
Enjoy!
Bioshock (02:00) Bioshock 2 (11:40) Shenmue: The Animation (23:22)
Join us on Discord! : discord.me/unncgaming
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow and Dave McCreary. Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria. This episode produced by David McCreary. Logo by Rebecca Horner.
Video Games: We don't talk enough about games set in the near future where you play as a cat, so Chris is putting that to rights by telling us all about Stray. Dave follows up with a bit of chat about procedural dungeon crawler and lockdown sensation, Hades.
Enjoy!
Stray (01:56) Hades (10:07)
Join us on Discord! : discord.me/unncgaming
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow and Dave McCreary. Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria. This episode produced by David McCreary. Logo by Rebecca Horner.
Video Games: Euan has been spending some quality time with Nintendo's flagship titles Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey. Chris gets back to the basics in the minimalist JRPG Dungeon Encounters. There's also some food chat in there, because of course there is.
Enjoy!
Breath of the Wild (01:52) Mario Odyssey (08:26) Dungeon Encounters (25:10)
Join us on Discord! : discord.me/unncgaming
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow and Dave McCreary. Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria. This episode produced by David McCreary. Logo by Rebecca Horner.
Video Games: Euan rounds up his final thoughts on Eastward, and makes a brief detour into retro Nintendo titles, before delving into Dragon Quest 11 and its impressive complement of regional accents. Chris has been living up to his namesake (sort of) in ratty adventure Tails of Iron.
Enjoy!
00:00 Intro 03:05 Eastward 05:35 Donkey Kong Country 07:35 Dragon Quest 11 18:15 Tails of Iron
Join us on Discord! : discord.me/unncgaming
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow and Dave McCreary. Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria. This episode produced by David McCreary. Logo by Rebecca Horner.
Board Games: Euan the Alchemist, Chris the Oracle, and Sea Captain Dave are drawn into the highly asymmetric Merchants Cove, by Final Frontier Games.
Enjoy!
00:00 Intro 01:48 Merchants Cove 25:53 A slice of life from The Book of Euan
Join us on Discord! : discord.me/unncgaming
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow and Dave McCreary. Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria. This episode produced by David McCreary. Logo by Rebecca Horner.
Video Games: In this episode Euan takes an unexpected shift to the right as he delves into Zelda-style RPG Eastward, and Chris finds that building a socialist paradise is actually a lot of work in the city building game Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic.
Enjoy!
00:00 Intro 01:45 Eastward 21:13 Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic
Join us on Discord! : discord.me/unncgaming
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow and Dave McCreary. Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria. This episode produced by David McCreary. Logo by Rebecca Horner.
Video Games and Board Games: Normal service resumes at Unnecessary HQ, albeit with some content recorded in the distant past of 2021. Dave takes us on a whirlwind tour of his last 18 months in another gaming roundup. It's 'game over, man,' for Chris, as he lets us know, in no uncertain terms, what he thinks of Aliens: Fireteam Elite. Finally, Euan discovers there's no event so cataclysmic it can't be exploited for commercial gain, in the board game Polynesia.
Enjoy!
Dave's Gaming Roundup: (05:47) Aliens: Fireteam Elite: (20:00) Polynesia: (27:20)
Join us on Discord! : https://discord.me/unncgaming
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow and Dave McCreary. Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria. This episode produced by David McCreary. Logo by Rebecca Horner.
Video Games: Chris has finally decided it's time to talk about Shenmue 3, and asks the question on everyone's lips: can Shenmue survive in the modern world of gaming? Meanwhile, Dave has another games round up for us, starting off with Unheard, a detective game with an eavesdropping twist, and moves on to the Obsidian RPG The Outer Worlds (the less said the better), and goes back to enjoy the spectacular Witcher 3. Finally, Chris has a good chat about his new retro gaming console, the Retrostone 2, because Chris doesn't relive his childhood gaming enough apparently.
Enjoy!
Shenmue 3 (01:15) Unheard (17:20) The Outer Worlds (27:00) Witcher 3 (29:05) Retrostone 2 (38:00)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode produced by Chris Hanratty Logo by Rebecca Horner www.firstplayertoken.com
Video Games: Chris and Dave have returned to their podcasting lives, which means returning to gaming, which means being grumpy. Chris gives Ghost Recon Breakpoint a bit of a protracted kicking, before Dave goes on a long gaming update in which he suggests Horizon Zero Dawn might be overrated, Gwent is a bit silly, Destiny 2 lives up to the disappointment, MLB The Show 19 is... a baseball game, but that Monster Hunter World is actually quite good. Finally, Chris gives the episode a positive ending by loving up mobile game Golf Blitz.
Enjoy!
Ghost Recon Breakpoint (03:17) Horizon Zero Dawn (24:20) Gwent (30:15) Destiny 2 (37:55) MLB The Show 19 (44:55) Monster Hunter World (48:05) Golf Blitz (54:40)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode produced by Chris Hanratty Logo by Rebecca Horner www.firstplayertoken.com
Board Games: Part two of our Tabletop Scotland Special, featuring Chris being massively relieved at having sold Feudum for a good cause, an overview of Tokaido, the one game we booked out of the games library over the weekend, interviews with Justin from BadCat Games, Andy from DMB Games, Darius from UNCON in Kent, a debate about Hero Quest, and Dave's round up of buying baked goods from LIDL.
Enjoy!
Highlights: Bring n Buy (01:30) Tokaido (06:30) Justin from Bad Cat Games (14:50) Darius from UNCON (30:00) Andy from DMB Games (39:45) Dave's LIDL roundup(55:10)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode produced by Chris Hanratty Logo by Rebecca Horner www.firstplayertoken.com
Board Games: Part one of our Tabletop Scotland Special, featuring an overview of our shenanigans during our weekend at the convention, interviews with Stuff by Bez, Andy from YAY Games, Kenny from the Dice Roll Cafe, and a good long chat about the excellent Bridge Simulator by Edinburgh College!
Enjoy!
Highlights: Games by Bez (13:00) YAY Games (27:35) Kenny from Dice Roll Cafe (43:00) Starship Bridge Simulator (49:45)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode produced by Chris Hanratty Logo by Rebecca Horner www.firstplayertoken.com
Video Games: Chris and Dave (the stalwarts) are on their own this week, but it's worthwhile because they've both played the ridiculous and immensely fun Cooking Simulator; Chris has returned to Ghost Recon Wildlands and Planet Coaster to check out some new features, and has also managed to put a few hours into tycoon-style transport and industry building game Rise of Industry; and Dave has been having his brain burnt by the crazy puzzler Baba is You.
Enjoy!
Cooking Simulator (01:15) Planet Coaster (19:45) Ghost Recon Wildlands (23:20) Rise of Industry (29:25) Baba is You (44:45)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode produced by Chris Hanratty Logo by Rebecca Horner www.firstplayertoken.com
Board Games: Dave finally let Chris and Euan play Serious Poulp's survival storytelling game The 7th Continent, which was enjoyed immensely for roleplaying reasons; Chris and his non-gamer partner have had a crack at a couple more of Lucky Duck's Chronicles of Crime scenarios; and we've all got Villagers to the table, the new tableau-building euro-style card game from Sinister Fish.
Enjoy!
The 7th Continent (02:30) Chronicles of Crime (22:07) Villagers (26:30)
NOTE: As explained at the beginning of the episode, we had some issues with Euan's vocal track. We've done what we can to fix it, but it's still a bit distorted. It's still listenable though, so don't worry!
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode produced by Chris Hanratty Logo by Rebecca Horner www.firstplayertoken.com
Video Games: Pawel and Dave have been playing the recently released action-adventure stealth game A Plague Tale: Innocence; Chris quickly mentions walking simulator What Remains of Edith Finch before getting lazy and sitting on his couch playing lots of difficult dungeon crawler Darkest Dungeon; and Dave's been doing some mobile gaming with the popular Rebel Inc.
Enjoy!
A Plague Tale: Innocence (02:35) What Remains of Edith Finch (23:00) Darkest Dungeon (25:10) Rebel Inc. (47:20)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode produced by Chris Hanratty Logo by Rebecca Horner www.firstplayertoken.com
Video Games: Dave's getting round to talking about award-winning puzzle/deduction game Return of the Obra Dinn in which he tells us about the mixture of ways you can identify a corpse; Chris has put his helmet on again and got into sinister PSVR puzzler Statik: Institute of Retention; and Pawel's been playing with cards in both the tactical roguelike Trials of Fire and the Dominion-inspired War of Omens. Enjoy!
Return of the Obra Dinn (03:06) Trials of Fire (27:53) Statik: Institute of Retention (43:26) War of Omens (55:05)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode produced by Chris Hanratty Logo by Rebecca Horner www.firstplayertoken.com
Board Games: It's a wild mixture of tabletop games this week as Dave gives an overview of how stupid we all are while playing quirky investigation game Chronicles of Crime; Chris does his best to describe solid Euro game Lorenzo il Magnifico; and Euan terrorises us all with tales of Plague Inc, the game of destroying humanity with horrendous diseases.
Enjoy!
Chronicles of Crime (03:00) Lorenzo il Magnifico (26:45) Plague Inc (39:50)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode produced by Chris Hanratty Logo by Rebecca Horner www.firstplayertoken.com
Video Games: We're back after a short break, so we're packing a show with a load of games. Pawel's talking about The Witcher again, or whatever he calls it in Polish, but specifically Gwent and its solo version Thronebreaker. Chris has jumped back into survival games with Outward, which is a bit Kenshi and a bit Dark Souls, but also addictive and weird. Dave's been dabbling with puzzle games, playing maze puzzler The Witness and the co-operative mobile game Tick Tock: A Tale for Two, and to wrap up the episode Chris has some thoughts on Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, a game which Pawel rates very highly.
Enjoy!
Gwent/Thronebreaker(04:10) Outward (21:30) The Witness(36:35) Tick Tock: A Tale For Two (53:00) Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (59:50)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode produced by Chris Hanratty Logo by Rebecca Horner www.firstplayertoken.com
We bring you a bit of a different episode this week, as Chris and Dave attended the Red Dice Games Mini-Con at the weekend where they played a couple of games and interviewed some of the lovely people they met there. Stuart, owner of Red Dice Games, tells us about his shop and the mini-con itself; Tom from Format 15 talks to Dave about his newest creation, Squirrel; Kevin from Inspiring Games tells us about Legends Untold and their plans for the future; and Eric from Juniper Green Board Gamers talks to Chris about bringing science games into the classroom. We also played some Hand of Fate: Ordeals and newly fulfilled Kickstarter Village Pillage, and our topic this week: what themes would you like to see in board games?
Enjoy!
Stuart from Red Dice Games (04:15) Hand of Fate: Ordeals (11:45) Tom Sudall from Format 15 & Squirrel (15:30) Kevin from Inspiring Games & Legends Untold (21:15) Eric from Juniper Green Board Gamers (33:10) Topic - Board Game Themes (42:07) Village Pillage (49:22)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary Logo by Rebecca Horner www.firstplayertoken.com
Video Games: Dave is eating chips but still finds time to get angry at Pawel while talking about Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice; Pawel has taken his first foray into colony management games in Oxygen Not Included; and Chris is YET AGAIN reliving his childhood by playing the Theme Hospital spiritual successor, Two Point Hospital, with its crazy illnesses. Enjoy!
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (03:27) Oxygen Not Included (26:08) Two Point Hospital (45:53)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary Logo by Rebecca Horner www.firstplayertoken.com
Board Games: Chris is back from his mysterious extended leave and he and Euan want to tell you all about going rogue in sandbox Wild West game Western Legends by Kolossal Games; Dave has recently received a Kickstarter from Scottish publisher One Free Elephant called Microbrew, which has the tiniest box we've ever seen but is somehow amazingly deep; and we've finally got round to having a go at fantasy-themed programming game Lords of Xidit by Libellud. Enjoy!
Western Legends (02:00) Microbrew (18:20) Lords of Xidit (33:00)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty Logo by Rebecca Horner www.firstplayertoken.com
Video Games: With Chris stil away, we cover a rather varied trio of games this week. Pawel has been playing his cards right in hard to define RTS-themed card game Prismata; obsessing over the texture of Diablo-clone Warhammer: Chaosbane; and Dave has been getting to grips with simian smash and grab Ape Out. To close, the lads have a bit of a discussion about choosing the gender of your video game character. Also, Chris pops in unexpectedly to help finish the episode.
Prismata (5:13) Warhammer: Chaosbane (20:10) Ape Out (38:05) VG chat: Choosing the gender of your video game character (48:40)
This episode hosted by David McCreary, Euan Glasgow, and Pawel Daruk Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by David McCreary Logo by Rebecca Horner
Video Games: Chris is away and it's another anarchic episode. Pawel explains why newly released coop shooter Anthem is rubbish when you play it solo. Euan makes a welcome return to ever expanding rouguelike Streets of Rogue. Pawel tells us what it's like to play multiplayer wizarading sim Nine Parchments on your own, and Dave attempts something as well, but gives up on it half way through the episode. Enjoy!
Anthem (3:45) Streets of Rogue (22:00) Nine Parchments (36:00)
This episode hosted by David McCreary, Euan Glasgow, and Pawel Daruk Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by David McCreary Logo by Rebecca Horner
Board Games & Tabletop: Pawel has insisted on having his annual RPG slot, so we let him talk about the latest edition of Legend of the Five Rings by Fantasy Flight for a good chunk. Next up is the proper gaming section for proper people, where we enjoy the new deckbuilder Hand of Fate: Ordeals by Hand & Make, which is based on the video game of playing a deadly game of card-based adventure against the Dealer. Finally, Chris and Euan have gone back to a classic as they introduced a new board gamer to the archaeological fun that is Thebes by Queen Games, with its interesting time-spending mechanic. Gotta dig up the dirt! Enjoy!
Legend of the Five Rings (04:49) Hand of Fate: Ordeals (25:36) Thebes (45:04)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Pawel Daruk Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty Logo by Rebecca Horner www.firstplayertoken.com
Video Games: This week, Dave and Pawel have an argument about the gameplay mechanics in the Resident Evil 2 remake (or is it a remix?), although Pawel doesn't really mind about Dave's opinions because he's actually fallen in love with roguelite adventure game Sunless Skies. Chris has been getting sweaty in VR with Beat Saber, and has wound down by tending to his cemetery in the wacky Harvest Moon-esque game Graveyard Keeper. Enjoy!
Resident Evil 2 (01:24) Sunless Skies (29:30) Beat Saber (44:50) Graveyard Keeper (51:43)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty www.firstplayertoken.com
This week we have an episode rammed with board games, as Chris, Dave and Euan attended the ticket launch party for Tabletop Scotland 2019 and played a few little gems there! There's Klask, a dexterity game of magnets and scoring goals; Evil Overlord, a short but utterly chaotic card game of set collection; Skull, the simple but elegant bluffing game; Rhino Hero: Super Battle, a dexterity game of building a cardboard tower and having your superhero ascend it; and Walk the Plank, a short take-that card game with a programming twist! Finally, Chris and Dave talk about their recent experience at Red Dice Games, where they managed to get a play of New Frontiers, the latest in the Race for the Galaxy game family. Enjoy!
Tabletop Scotland ticket launch (01:48) Klask (05:10) Evil Overlord (12:04) Skull (19:30) Rhino Hero: Super Battle (31:08) Walk the Plank! (41:35) New Frontiers (46:50)
Tabletop Scotland website: https://tabletopscotland.co.uk
(Note: Since this episode aired, Shades of Vengeance, the publishers of Evil Overlord, have informed us that the correct player count is 3-10, and the designer is Ed Jowett, with art by Sofia Michailidou and graphic design by Alexander Korchnev. Thanks for clearing this up guys!)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty
The first video games episode of 2019 begins with Chris feeling quite chuffed with his new Twitch affiliate status, which is mainly down to him playing 7 Days to Die obsessively. The crew chat about their first impressions of co-op adventure shooter Strange Brigade, while Chris and Pawel get confused by survival horror game Darkwood and the strategy game This Is The Police 2. Finally, Chris has another dive into the realms of nostalgia with Dungeon Keeper-esque War For The Overworld. Enjoy!
7 Days to Die/Twitch chat (01:48) Strange Brigade (07:50) Darkwood (25:12) This Is The Police 2 (36:07) War For The Overworld (48:32)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty
In this first episode of 2019 the team are talking about their festive season tabletop gaming! Euan kicks off with Jurassic Park: Danger, a light attempt at replicating the original film, and also playing Munchkin with his family. Chris then goes back in time a little as he revisits a couple of old episodes (remember episode 17, when Pawel wasn't there to discourage Chris and Euan's behaviour? Or episode 72, when Chris wasn't there to discourage Dave's behaviour? Good times!), and talks about Century Spice Road, a lovely little cube trading and hand management game. Finally, Dave and Pawel had got together to play the extremely festive third edition of Arkham Horror... but is it really a third edition or a completely new game? Enjoy!
Jurassic Park: Danger (05:07) Munchkin (14:20) Episode nostalgia (22:10) Century Spice Road (25:43) Arkham Horror (29:45)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty
It's the final episode of 2018, and video games are on the festive menu. Pawel spins a yarn about the high risk nature of future capitalism in Battletech, Dave tells a topical tale of the difficulties unifying a divided land in Reigns: Game of Thrones, and Chris happily delves back into the past, reliving his childhood in Road Redemption.
Battletech (05:18) Christmas themed games chat (21:00) Reigns: Game of Thrones (27:34) Road Redemption (38:58)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by Dave McCreary
It's the final board games episode of 2018! The team have finally got their hands on Dinosaur Island, and give it a good in-depth review in which we ask: is it Dinosaury enough? We've also played a couple of older games, starting with K2, the mountain climbing game which has caused some grumbles in climbing circles, and Dixit, the party game with the weird and wonderful card art.
Enjoy!
Dinosaur Island (01:45) K2 (40:15) Dixit (59:22)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty
It's more video games chat this week, as Chris, Pawel and Dave talk about what there is to actually do in Red Dead Redemption 2's online beta, Dave gives possibly the shortest (and most obscure) review we've ever done for Burly Men at Sea, Pawel takes in cyberpunk Metroidvania game Ghost 1.0, and Chris has found a roguelite with an RTS twist in Renowned Explorers: International Society.
But which bands are these games most like?
Enjoy!
Red Dead Redemption 2 Online (02:24) Burly Men at Sea (21:18) Ghost 1.0 (25:40) Renowned Explorers: International Society (47:05)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty
Euan and Pawel are in recovery after the madness of Episode 100, so Chris and Dave have a more relaxed chat about their experiences with Red Dead Redemption 2 and Fallout 76, and also give a quick round up of how the new theme tune came to be and who played what! Enjoy!
Red Dead Redemption 2 (01:25) Fallout 76 (38:15) New theme tune chat (68:45)
This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty
It's 2065, and the team have decided to take a look back at fifty years in the gaming podcast business, sharing their favourite memories from the past.
Warning: This episode contains extreme amounts of bullshit. And also a new theme tune.
Enjoy!
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty
It's the final tabletop episode before the Episode 100 Special! This week, we give Pawel more reasons to never play RPGs with the rest of us, before letting him delve into his latest Kickstarter acquisition Deep Madness, a co-op sci-fi board game with a Lovecraftian twist. We then have some fun by revisiting a couple of older games, the robot-programming chaos of RoboRally, and the co-operative superhero card game Sentinels of the Multiverse. Enjoy!
(Your loincloth has perished.)
Deep Madness (09:43) RoboRally (35:33) Sentinels of the Multiverse (51:56)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary
In the final pre-100 video games episode, Chris, Dave and Pawel compare Steam library play times, which brings us to a discussion about Pawel's ludicrous amount of time playing EVE Online completely differently from anyone else. Elsewhere, Dave has had a quick play of Red Dead Redemption 2 and has some controversial thoughts about modern gaming. Chris gives a short update on Pathfinder: Kingmaker, asks Pawel a question about Shenmue, then talks about The Bridge, a puzzle game enspired by the scribblings of MC Escher. Finally, Dave goes to his happy place as he has his own mini Retro Games Book Club with Ring of Red from the year 2000. Enjoy!
EVE Online (09:50) Red Dead Redemption 2 (28:10) Pathfinder: Kingmaker (40:20) Shenmue (41:38) The Bridge (43:58) Ring of Red (50:50)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
In this week's video game episode, Chris talks about Pathfinder: Kingmaker, the classic-style RPG which is set in the Pathfinder universe; Dave has been playing Metal Gear Solid V and wants to tell us all about how the MGS series of games were made for him; and Pawel has played Ruiner, a top-down cyberpunk twin-stick pole-bashing bullet hell! Enjoy!
Pathfinder: Kingmaker (04:18) Metal Gear Solid V (26:00) Ruiner (56:34)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
Board games this week as we chuck ourselves into the co-operative modern crime-solving game Detective by Portal Games, take on Plan B Games' popular abstract strategy game Azul (said with a dramatic voice), and finally get round to talking about one of Chris's favourite games of all time, the original Colosseum by Days of Wonder! Enjoy!
Detective (02:48) Azul (29:06) Colosseum (48:00)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary
Video games this week with Chris, Pawel and Dave! Phoenix Wright-alike Aviary Attorney is Dave's game of the week, Chris returns to Salt and Sanctuary and the PS4 version of Shenmue, both Chris and Dave have cooperated nicely in the free puzzle game We Were Here, and Pawel has some unexpected feelings about Shadow of the Tomb Raider! Enjoy!
Aviary Attorney (02:30) Salt and Sanctuary (21:20) Shenmue (31:47) We Were Here (35:00) Shadow of the Tomb Raider (47:20)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
After a lengthy introduction which is mostly about a foreign chocolate bar that causes Pawel a lot of embarrassment, we get stuck into what turns out to be a mostly indie game episode, talking first about FAR: Lone Sails and its relaxing atmosphere. Dave then quickly summarises God of War, then has a lengthy chat about his time spent playing loads of games on itch.io, the indie game website, and settles on Where The Goats Are. Finally, Chris gets weird (and terrified) in real-time card game Cultist Simulator! Enjoy!
FAR: Lone Sails (08:48) God of War (19:55) Dave's journey through itch.io (22:00) Where The Goats Are (27:35) Cultist Simulator (37:45)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan (Truffle) Glasgow, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow Weird chocolate by Poland This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
Chris, Euan and Dave bring an episode with a bit of a difference, as they talk about their experience at Tabletop Scotland in Perth on 2nd September. Enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: Legends Untold by Inspiring Games (04:50): www.inspiringgames.com/legends-untold Wibble++ and Yogi by Stuff By Bez (17:35): www.stuffbybez.com Tilis: Exploration (Playtest Zone) (27:08) Covert (39:20)
Links to other things we talked about: Tabletop Scotland's Website: www.tabletopscotland.co.uk The Giant Brain: www.giantbrain.co.uk Unlucky Frog: www.unluckyfrog.com Meeple Like Us: www.meeplelikeus.co.uk More Games Please: www.moregamesplease.com
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty Email us: firstplayertoken@gmail.com
Chris and Dave begin this episode with an explanation for Pawel and Euan's strange absence, then get into some video game goodness. Chris has been addictively playing roguelike card-based game Slay the Spire, Dave gets platformy with A Hat in Time, and the pair of them talk about their co-operative experience in ocean-exploring survival game Raft. Enjoy!
Slay the Spire (06:20) A Hat in Time (32:55) Raft (49:15)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Dave McCreary
The first post-summer holiday board game episode starts with a long dissection of Isaac Childres's latest Kickstarter Founders of Gloomhaven, a game of city building and mass confusion. We then have some fun creating rabbit fiefdoms in the colourful card drafting and area selection game Bunny Kingdom, and we finally lick some sandpaper as we get stuck into the classic 1980s game of German politics, Die Macher. Enjoy!
Founders of Gloomhaven(01:30) Bunny Kingdom (34:54) Die Macher (52:27)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty Email us: firstplayertoken@gmail.com
We're back from our summer holidays and we're talking video games this week, with mad co-op cooking sequel Overcooked 2, survival horror Prey, Dave chats about finally owning a PS4 and giving his life over to Fortnite, and we talk about how much has changed in No Man's Sky now that the Next update has been released. Enjoy!
Overcooked 2 (01:27) Prey (15:46) Fortnite (32:58) No Man's Sky: Next (46:53)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
Dave has an important announcement to make on behalf of the podcast, or as he describes it: We're all going on a summer holiday, no more working for a month or two.
It's board games time this week and Chris, Pawel and Dave all hit the wasteland in Fantasy Flight's sandboxy Fallout Board Game based on the hit video game series. Also this week, Dave keeps battering Chris's queen bee in Hive, and the team revisits party game Deception: Murder in Hong Kong just for laughs. Enjoy!
Fallout (04:34) Hive (34:15) Deception: Murder in Hong Kong (52:53)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
It's finally UNNECESSARY QUIZ TIME as Chris puts Euan, Pawel and Dave through their paces with some questions on video games and consoles of the past! But first we have a good chat about some games we've played, with Pawel spouting his love for Pillars of Eternity 2, Chris talking more about Frostpunk and discovering Souls-esque platformer Salt and Sanctuary, and Dave has finally got himself a PS4 just so he can play God of War. Enjoy!
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (01:26) Frostpunk (16:55) Salt and Sanctuary (27:40) God of War (39:00) Unnecessary Quiz (49:17)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
Video gaming with a dystopian flavour this week as we take on the frozen hell of city-builder Frostpunk, drop into David Cage's latest open-ended effort in Detroit: Become Human, and serve mood-altering drinks to patrons as a bartending android in Red Strings Club. Enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: Frostpunk (02:59) Detroit: Become Human (31:30) Red Strings Club (53:15)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
We've gone OLD SKOOL this week as we chat at great length about GMT's Successors 3rd Edition in a departure from our usual style of tabletop gaming, and also find ourselves playing a few rounds of the Sherlock Holmes Card Game from 1991! On top of that, we give a long-overdue Gloomhaven update, and discuss the bottleneck problem the game suffers from. But we still love it. Enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: Successors (02:20) Sherlock Holmes the Card Game (39:36) Gloomhaven (53:06)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
We're back with some video game goodness, starting with Chris quickly bouncing back into the worlds of Skyrim VR and Unexplored, before explaining the weird set up to Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom and its presidential, gun-wielding main character. Dave then gives an apology to Jamie from Sludj Games (oops, we messed up) before telling an absolutely wonderful tale set in the world of Kenshi, and Pawel gets the threat of the buzzer during the continuation of his multi-part BATTLETECH review. Enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: Skyrim VR (02:45) Unexplored (10:00) Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (13:09) Kenshi (29:40) BATTLETECH (54:47)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
Pawel is absent this week, but has (allegedly) sent a prepared statement, which we're all sure he definitely wrote himself, to follow up his Battletech review from last episode, Other than that bit of hilarity, Chris talks about PC Building Simulator (because it was only a matter of time before this game was made) and gives an update on Fortnite Battle Royale Season 4, Euan gets his teeth into Zelda-like Swords of Ditto, and Dave has been playing surreal survival game Wrongworld! Enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: Battletech (02:33) PC Building Simulator (05:18) Swords of Ditto (18:13) Wrongworld (31:50) Fortnite Battle Royale (49:12)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary
Pawel has played Battletech and decides to daydream about the idea of it rather than the game itself, Chris talks about preparing another planet for human colonisation in Surviving Mars, Dave becomes a gun-toting fish in Ace of Seafood, and we talk about Dune in the Retro Games Book Club! Enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: Battletech (02:09) Surviving Mars(21:47) Ace of Seafood (40:30) RGBC: Dune (50:49)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow and Dave McCreary This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
This week we're talking board games, with the newly acquired complex Kickstarter game Feudum, the much lighter (pun intended) tactical tree-growing game Photosynthesis, and the story-telling adventure game 7th Continent! One of these games made us very angry... enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: Feudum (02:03) Photosynthesis (29:26) 7th Continent (43:20)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Dave McCreary
Euan, Pawel and Dave have given podcast dad Chris the week off for his birthday, so expect shenanigans while they talk about the genre-bending 3030 Deathwar Redux - A Space Odyssey, free-to-play online RPG Path of Exile, and action RPG Bound by Flame. Also, expect a terrible Al Pacino pun if you weren't already. Enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: 3030 Deathwar Redux - A Space Odyssey (06:02) Path of Exile (27:20) Bound by Flame (48:36)
This episode hosted by Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow Recorded and edited by Dave McCreary
Board games time with Chris, Euan and Dave! This week we play Bora Bora (delicious points salad), Whitehall Mystery (delicious reused theme), and Sheriff of Nottingham (delicious apples-not-crossbows)! Enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: Bora Bora (02:07) Whitehall Mystery (27:58) Sheriff of Nottingham (52:10)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary
Video Games: we try to figure out what Northgard is, Chris plays a point & click adventure in which you can hack the game itself, Dave has a quick chat about Path of Exile, and then we all become student surgeons for the Retro Games Book Club. Enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: Northgard (02:28) Else Heart.Break (21:08) Path of Exile (38:42) Retro Games Book Club: Life and Death (42:18)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow and Dave McCreary This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
More thrilling video game chat this week, including a dramatic exit from Euan while Dave and Pawel try to take control of the podcast in a sly power grab. Enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: Nier:Automata (04:12) David Lynch Teaches Typing (19:41) Subnautica (26:55) Alienation (43:52)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow This episode recorded and edited by Dave McCreary
This week we're talking video games, casting our net far and wide to talk about some very different things. Also, Pawel decides to substitute one word for another, just to make everyone feel uncomfortable. Enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: What Remains of Edith Finch (02:12) Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (14:24) They Are Billions (27:10) Monster Hunter: World (45:40) Knack (51:45)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow Recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
Chris, Dave, Euan and Pawel are talking video games this week, with romantic roguelike Roguemance, a quick mention for Rime, more Monster Hunter: World, Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr, and in the Retro Games Book Club segment this week (with brand new theme music): Mega-Lo-Mania!
Also, who the hell is Speederman? Listen to find out!
Games talked about in this episode: Roguemance (02:52) Rime (11:48) Monster Hunter: World (12:57) Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr (26:47) Retro Games Book Club: Mega-Lo-Mania (37:50)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow & Dave McCreary Recorded and edited by Dave McCreary
Games talked about in this episode: Chris, Euan and Dave bring you a board episodes this week, talking about some games that have been sitting on the shelf for a while. Enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: Mansions of Madness (02:20) Seafall (18:30) Citadels (38:05)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow Recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary
More video games chat this week with Chris, Euan, Pawel and Dave! Also expect us to confuse Pawel with chat about the dance music of yesteryear. Enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: Total War: Warhammer (03:30) Technobabylon (13:45) Fortnite Battle Royale (23:08) Monster Hunter: World (27:28) Streets of Rogue (45:18) Abzu (55:47)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow Recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
The first video games episode of the year brings a rambling chat about Assassin's Creed: Origins, Bounty Train, Fallout Shelter and the very first of our Retro Games Book Club section, in which we talk at great length about NetHack! We also find ourselves swerving dangerously into the contentious topic of loot boxes, giving a bit of a kicking to several modern games as we do so. Oh well.
Assassin's Creed Origins (03:17) Fallout Shelter/loot box chat (21:20) Bounty Train (40:30) Retro Games Book Club: NetHack (45:28)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow & Chris Hanratty Recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty
Chris, Euan, Pawel and Dave are back after their winter break to bring you some New Year board games chat! We also have a bit of an announcement about changes to the podcast for the future, so listen up at the back! On top of that, Dave has fun with his first ever podcast recording duties by twiddling all the knobs while Chris is speaking. Enjoy!
Games talked about in this episode: Zooloretto (06:55) Hegemonic (19:30) Century Spice Road (51:50)
Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk and Dave McCreary Music by Euan Glasgow Recorded and edited by Dave McCreary
In the last episode of 2017 Chris, Euan, Pawel and Dave are talking video games, with Pawel playing through Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Euan taking on Streets of Rogue, and Dave playing the weirdly difficult Metroidvania game Hollow Knight! Also in this episode, we talk about our recent attendance of Games Are For Everyone in Edinburgh, a gaming event run by We Throw Switches, where Chris, Euan and Dave played some excellent, some weird, and some just plain arty games including Reigns: Her Majesty, Phogs, Virtua Walker 87, Line Wobbler, Muddledash, and more! Enjoy!
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice: 1:33 Streets of Rogue: 17:20 Hollow Knight: 28:27 Games Are For Everyone: 40:47
Pawel has returned from his Japan trip, and Chris, Euan and Dave spend a good ten minutes grilling him about it while Pawel gives them capsule toy souvenirs (live unboxing, folks!). It's then straight on to the board games, as the lads have accidentally had a very Rio Grande Sunday at the weekend, with plays of some classic Euros which they'll tell you all about: Princes of Florence, Attika, and Stone Age!
Enjoy!
Princes of Florence: 12:22 Attika: 36:27 Stone Age: 49:22
Note: The next board games/tabletop episode will be in January, as we will be taking our usual Christmas/New Year break after the next video games episode, which should be out next week. Cheers!
Chris, Euan and Dave talk video games this week! Skyrim VR is the big new release for PSVR and Chris has a great time punching people and filling them with 10 arrows every second; Dave has a very specific reason for playing time-stopping sci-fi game Heat Signature; Chris attempts to make a successful software company in Software Inc; and Euan and Chris have a quick chat about the new Playlink feature on PS4, having had a bit of a larf with That's You!. Enjoy!
Skyrim VR: 01:20 Heat Signature: 22:16 Software, Inc: 37:35 That's You!: 51:33
We are finally back with a tabletop episode, this time playing something a bit unusual for us with the area control/wargame 878 Vikings: Invasions of England, and then having a bit of silly (but thematic) fun with the disc-flicking dungeon crawling game Catacombs!
Enjoy!
878 Vikings: 04:05 Catacombs: 37:24
Euan takes over hosting duties for this video games episode as Chris is feeling a bit under the weather (not drunk), which starts with him verbally wandering on his continued journey through 90s gaming with Fallout, and a little bit about Command & Conquer. Pawel then talks us through Warhammer: Total War 2, the latest installment in the planned trilogy. Also, Chris gives his dying throat a workout by taking us through the cosmetic changes to Fortnite's Battle Royale, before talking about the good and bad bits of Middle-earth: Shadow of War, and finishes up with a quick chat about ridiculously difficult platformer Cuphead.
Enjoy!
Fallout: 02:01 Total War: Warhammer 2: 09:45 Fortnite Battle Royale: 29:28 Shadow of War: 38:26 Cuphead: 49:03
This week, in a departure from our usual format, we hand the episode over entirely to our Pathfinder roleplaying campaign, in which we talk about what Pathfinder is, the characters and stories in our campaign, and have a good old chat about the wonderful world of roleplaying in general, from the perspective of both new (Chris and Euan) and experienced players (Pawel, RPG maestro extraordinaire).
This episode begins with a dramatic reading from the journal of Euan's character, Bobby Treetops, the elf sailor. He's some lad.
Enjoy!
We have a belter of an episode this week as Pawel admits defeat and gets stuck right in to Divinity: Original Sin 2, Chris tries not to spoil the interactive video-based game Her Story, Euan goes back to the 90s and plays the original Fallout, and Chris gives a quick overview of his first couple of hours in Middle-earth: Shadow of War.
Enjoy!
Divinity: Original Sin 2: 01:40 Her Story: 22:30 Fallout: 34:30 Middle-earth: Shadow of War: 50:50
We're back with another tabletop games episode, this time talking about two board games with gorgeous artwork: Dice Forge, in which the players are constantly changing the physical faces of their dice to suit their needs and strategy, and Spirit Island, a fully co-operative game of angry gods and spirits (the players) who are repelling foreign invaders from colonising their lands.
Enjoy!
Dice Forge: 02:30 Spirit Island: 25:45
This week's video games episode finds Chris in his happy place as he shows Divinity: Original Sin 2 a whole lot of love while arguing with Pawel about what a Fantasy RPG is. Meanwhile, Pawel has been playing Echo (not Ecco), a stealth game in which the AI learns how to beat you from observing your choices and behaviour. Also this week Chris and Dave have a bit to say about Starbound and its excellent balance of relaxing base building and exploration of alien planets.
Enjoy!
Divinity: Original Sin 2: 03:34 Echo: 29:40 Starbound: 45:20
A full squad of Unnecessaries have a spot of early tomfoolery over which one of them is called Pawel, before they move on to a couple of good chats about some of the more fun and chaotic tabletop games they've played recently: Goblins, Inc, a tile-laying game in which four players split into two teams and build robots of death to batter each other with; and Escape: The Curse of the Temple (Big Box Edition), a co-operative, real-time, frantic, dice-rolling game, which involves the players attempting to, well, escape from an ancient temple before time runs out and they're locked in forever.
Enjoy!
Goblins, Inc: 02:18 Escape: The Curse of the Temple: 23:50
Chris, Euan, Pawel, and Dave kick off by opening the mailbag for the first time, as an annoyed listener manages to sneak in a review of Uncharted 4. The proper gaming chat starts with Destiny 2, as Pawel skives work to play a video game again, and Chris attempts to tackle Fortnite, a game which is trying to be a lot of things at once (and basically succeeding). Also, Euan manages to squeeze in a quick talk about PS2 game Shadow of Memories (aka Shadow of Destiny), a weird time-travelling game of yesteryear.
Enjoy!
Destiny 2: 07:14 Fortnite: 25:58 Shadow of Memories/Destiny: 52:05
Chris, Euan, Pawel and Dave are back for a healthy chat about two completely different board games! Strap yourselves in (and board your windows up) for a long chat about This War of Mine, a narrative-heavy game which sees the players controlling a small group of people trying desperately to survive in a war-torn city. We then lighten things up a bit with the hospital building/patient curing game Quarantine, a short and easy to learn board game which has a decent amount of screwing over your fellow players by filling their hospitals with disease.
Enjoy!
This War of Mine: 1:43 Quarantine: 42:22
Chris, Euan, Pawel, and even Dave are back from an unintentionally extended holiday to talk video games! During the break, Euan finally finished Final Fantasy XV, and has a good rant about it, while Chris talks about The Sexy Brutale, a quirky time-travelling point-and-click murder mystery game for the modern gaming world. Dave has a bit to say about Alaskan survival/exploration game The Wild EIght, and specifically its multiplayer mode, and Pawel attempts to pour out some love for Uncharted 4, but the conversation is... ehh.. derailed.
Enjoy!
Final Fantasy XV: 3:16 The Sexy Brutale: 10:24 The Wild Eight: 21:35 Uncharted 4/everything else: 38:16
Chris and Euan are on their lonesome for this week's board games episode, which covers a couple of games that they've enjoyed for a few years now, starting with Mage Wars, a deckbuilding mage-battling game with a huge difference in that all your cards and abilities are available to you from the off. They then go back to Xia: Legends of a Drift System, the sci-fi sandbox game of customisable ships battering around a dangerous galaxy, and have a look at the new expansion for it, Embers of a Forsaken Star, and all the delights that it adds.
Enjoy!
Mage Wars: 2:33 Xia: Embers of a Forsaken Star: 29:47
This week's video games episode begins with looking up Pawel's name on Urban Dictionary for kicks, before the lads actually start talking about some video games, starting with a very brief return to Neon Chrome and then a much, much longer chat about another roguelike, Unexplored, which Chris has been enjoying immensely. Euan then goes back a good few years to talk about Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, in anticipation of a new Call of Cthulhu game being released later this year. Pawel brings us forward into the 2010s (or is it back to the 1940s?) as he chats about the RTS game Company of Heroes 2, set on the Eastern Front during World War 2, before Chris has some silly fun with one-vs-many horror survival game Friday the 13th: The Game.
Enjoy!
Unexplored/Neon Chrome: 5:04 Call of Cthulhu: 23:40 Company of Heroes 2: 35:00 Friday the 13th: 47:03
Chris, Euan and Pawel have a 66% Japanese episode with two games from designers from the land of the rising sun, starting with Tragedy Looper, a "1 versus many" time-travel board game in which the good guys are trying to prevent tragedies from happening by, uhhh, letting them happen a couple of times. Next up is Fairy Tale, a light, fantasy-themed card game of set collection and with multiple ways of scoring points. Pawel then ruins the Japanese theme of the episode by talking some more about Arkham Horror: The Card Game, and specifically about its standalone adventures and expansions such as Dunwich Legacy.
Dave also gives a message from beyond the grave. (Note: Dave isn't actually dead)
Enjoy!
Tragedy Looper: 3:18 Fairy Tale: 26:32 Arkham Horror Card Game: 40:30
Chris, Euan and Pawel bring you another video games episode! Chris kicks off with an update on two VR games, first asking Pawel about his experience with Star Trek Bridge Crew and then a short bit about his own playthrough of Farpoint. Euan then talks about the strange Egyptian sci-fi old-school style indie RPG Void Pyramid and how he's been stalking its mysterious designer known only as "A Hagen". Chris jacks himself into Neon Chrome, an addictive and well designed top-down cyberpunk shooter with roguelike elements, while Pawel returns to the Gabriel Knight series with the 20th Anniversary remake of Sins of the Father. Also, more vague politics. Enjoy!
Star Trek Bridge Crew/Farpoint: 3:20 Void Pyramid: 13:04 Neon Chrome: 26:10 Gabriel Knight Sins of the Father: 41:04
Chris, Euan, Pawel and Dave bring you the missing board games episode from last week! This week we give most of the episode over to Ryan Laukat and Red Raven Games, as we give our first impressions of the newly-arrived story-telling/adventuring game Near and Far. We also chat about one of Euan's favourite games, The Ancient World, where the players are attempting to unite groups of people under their banners to fight off the threat of attacking Titans. Although Pawel thinks the humans are the real monsters. Finally, we return to Captain Sonar, after Chris and Euan managed to get a full eight-player real-time game of this incredibly fun team-based submarine-commanding torpedo-firing stealth-running mine-dropping game of wits. New video games episode will be out later this week! Enjoy!
Near and Far: 2:30 The Ancient World: 25:30 Captain Sonar: 46:10
Video Games: This week, Chris and Euan return to Farpoint, the PSVR sci-fi shooter, getting a bit more into the story side of things and the new stuff they're encountering. Pawel interjects with a segment on the Battletech Closed Beta, an upcoming turn-based strategy game in which squads of giant mechs blow each other to bits, and based on the tabletop game of the same name. Finally, Chris and Euan get back to PSVR with a look at the latest big release, Star Trek Bridge Crew, the immensely fun, nerdy, co-op starship simulator set in the rebooted Star Trek universe.
This episode also features some chat about the future of PSVR and what they think the platform needs, and also Euan getting angry about films.
Enjoy!
Farpoint: 1:51 Battletech: 18:06 Star Trek Bridge Crew: 32:49
Chris, Euan, Pawel and Dave are here to talk about two very different tabletop games in this episode! Yokohama is first up, a Euro-style game in which the players are presidents of merchant companies during the Meiji era of Japan's history, trying to win the favour of foreign investors. We also take on Bloodborne, a barely-cooperative card game set in the video game world of Yharnam, in which there can be only one winner, but you'll have to work together to defeat your monstrous enemies.
Enjoy!
Yokohama: 4:00 Bloodborne: 34:30
A veritable feast of video games is on offer in this week's episode, as we first go back a few years to talk about Borderlands 2 (as part of The Handsome Collection) and all its craziness. Next up is the latest PSVR release Farpoint, a sci-fi shooter using Sony's new Aim controller, and Euan launches into a SPOILER FILLED audio essay on his ongoing playthrough of Final Fantasy XV. Also on this week's show, Pawel talks about sci-fi city builder Anno 2205, while Chris gives a quick overview of his cowardly bathroom-hiding tactics in Battle Royale-esque PC shooter PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.
Enjoy!
Borderlands 2 - 4:00 Farpoint - 19:30 Final Fantasy XV - 26:46 (Spoilers) Anno 2205 - 39:38 PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds - 50:27
Chris, Euan, Pawel, and even Dave are talking board games this week, with Vlaada Chvatil's 2008 real-time panic-inducing game Space Alert taking up a decent chunk of the episode, as Pawel describes his love for pushing buttons that do nothing while Euan gives him a telling off for not listening to the Captain. Also in this episode, Chris and Euan go through their first game of The Colonists, a fairly new worker management Euro-style game which has a focus on efficiency and burning your brain.
Enjoy!
In this week's Video Games episode, Pawel's bias finally breaks down as he admits that the bugs and weird things going on in Mass Effect: Andromeda are actually ruining his immersion, and instead retreats to the world of Expeditions: Viking, a tactical RPG which is the successor to Conquistador. Meanwhile, Chris travels through a war-torn country with a baseball bat in randomly generated side-scrolling survival game Home Behind.
Enjoy!
Mass Effect: Andromeda: 1:46 Home Behind: 19:06 Expeditions: Viking: 40:00
Chris and Euan are joined by guest host Dave for some chat about some of the board games we played on International Tabletop Day, beginning with some team-based submarine fun in Captain Sonar, a game of hidden movements, outwitting your opponents and panicking about your vessel's systems! We also finally got around to playing Waggle Dance, a worker placement game which uses dice to represent bees in the players' hives as they compete for nectar, hatch eggs, and make honey. Last up we revisit The Pursuit of Happiness, a strange Game of Life-esque game where you live through the entire life of a person, and the ultimate goal is to be happier than anyone else when the stress of old age finally kills you.
Enjoy!
Captain Sonar: 2:30 Waggle Dance: 25:37 The Pursuit of Happiness: 43:46
After a short hiatus, Chris, Euan and Pawel are back with another video games episode! Pawel sweats through an attempt at a TOTALLY UNBIASED review of Mass Effect Andromeda, which quickly turns into a long discussion about the Mass Effect series in general, while Chris and Euan talk about Disc Jam, the weirdly fun volleyball/frisbee hybrid sports game. Chris also manages to squeeze in The Wild Eight, a story-driven survival game with a twist which he is finding strangely addictive.
Enjoy!
Chris, Euan and Pawel are joined in this episode by their gaming chum Dave to talk about tabletop games! Dead of Winter, the truly semi-cooperative zombie survival game, is first up this week, as the fingers of blame are pointed in all directions. Pawel then gets his names confused as he talks about Mage: The Ascension, which is set in the World of Darkness (not Warcraft), and is definitely not the entirely fictional board game Mage Quest. Lastly this week, the lads give another spoiler-free update on their Gloomhaven adventures, with Dave giving some input into what he describes as a bonkers game.
Enjoy!
This week, Pawel gets defensive over comments made by Chris in the last video games episode about Horizon Zero Dawn and gives a lengthy retort (while stopping Euan from giving an opinion), Euan gets his revenge by resorting to talking about a mobile port of the original Dragon Quest (or is it Dragon Warrior?) from 1986, and Chris accidentally ruins the early-access naval battle game Blackwake for a bunch of roleplayers.
Enjoy!
Board games chat with a full compliment of Unnecessaries! This week we talk about A Game of Thrones, the tense game of area control and political treachery set in Westeros which the lads and their pals played recently, during which Chris confused Pawel with an alliance and an unlikely winner came from nowhere. Also in this episode is the app-driven XCOM board game, which simulates the management and bureaucracy side of the XCOM video games (it's more fun than it sounds), and also Discworld: Ankh-Morpork, the lovingly-created light board game set in the world created by Terry Pratchett.
Enjoy!
In this video games episode, Chris and Euan follow up on the last one by talking some more about Horizon Zero Dawn and whether it's all it's cracked up to be, then have another look at the often ridiculous Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands. Next is an update on their journey through Shenmue II, which currently consists mainly of drunken gambling, and Chris finishes up by returning to Dwarf Fortress-esque survival/colony management game Rimworld, during which he gets totes emosh.
Enjoy!
In this board games episode, Euan and Chris have an argument about their party's dynamics in Gloomhaven as they give a glowing update on their campaign through this legacy dungeon-crawler. Meanwhile, Pawel talks about Endure the Stars, a co-operative survival game set on a planet-colonising starship, which he has, of course, been playing solo. Also on the schedule is Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar (plus the Tribes & Prophecies expansion), a dynamic worker placement game from 2012 which features big, moving cogs as part of the game board.
Enjoy!
In this video games episode, Chris and Pawel talk for a good bit about Horizon Zero Dawn, the action RPG set in the future in which humans have reverted to living in primitive tribes... and Pawel reveals it's also one of a handful of games he has taken time off work to play this year. Nerd that he is. Chris then gives a tongue-in-cheek review of new Tom Clancy game Ghost Recon Wildlands, an open world multiplayer squad shooter, which has everything you'd expect from a Tom Clancy game, such as guns, freedom, and offending an entire country. Last on the agenda is a brief chat about RIGS: Mechanized Combat League, the PSVR game of big mechs killing each other and occasionally playing American Football.
Enjoy!
New fantasy dungeon-crawling legacy game Gloomhaven is the (very) big thing everyone's talking about, and Chris, Euan and Pawel give a quick pre-review review of the game and its many millions of bits. The lads then go on a world tour, starting with Korean game Patchistory, the game of patching together tiles to create a civilization, and Chris talks about Hanamikoji, a Japanese two-player card-based game which has a small footprint but a surprising amount of depth. Finally, Pawel is given some time to talk about Coriolis, a sci-fi tabletop RPG with a Middle-Eastern twist. Think Arabian Nights in space, and you're pretty much there.
This episode can be divided by ten.
Enjoy!
In this video games episode, Chris, Euan and Pawel manage to cram a whole load of stuff in, including chat about the recently-released For Honor, questionable government surveillance game Orwell, old school point-and-click adventure The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery, and updates on Resident Evil: Biohazard and Final Fantasy XV!
Enjoy!
Chris and Euan are here to introduce a board games episode to your ears!
The episode starts off with a chat about New Angeles, Fantasy Flight's latest installment for their Android Universe, in which the players are corporations trying to make the most money while also working together to stop the city from descending into chaos. Damage Report is next up, a real-time sci-fi disaster game set on a spaceship on which everything is going wrong, and the lads finish up with a return to Food Chain Magnate, a game of trying to make profits by creating complex management structures for your chain of restaurants in what appears to be 1950s America.
Enjoy!
Chris, Euan and Pawel are here in their new, more focussed, more frequent format, kicking things off with a video games episode! In this episode, Chris gets emotional over his playthrough of puzzle platformer The Last Guardian, Pawel talks about Torment: Tides of Numenera, a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, and Chris rounds things off with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard in terrifying VR.
Enjoy!
This week's episode stuffs a long chat about Euan's playthrough of Final Fantasy XV down your throat, during which he admits he has a favourite boyband member, while Chris talks about Flying/Racing simulator Eagle Flight on PSVR, and also briefly chats about his return to Overwatch. The lads also have a lengthy chat about their epic game of Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game from the weekend, the 4x game based heavily on the video games of the same name.
Also, look out for an important announcement about the future of the podcast at the end of the show!
Enjoy!
The first episode of 2017 brings reviews of another of Chris's Kickstarters, the fantasy drink-serving dice-placement game Cavern Tavern, and Rio Grande's Power Grid: The Card Game, which manages to give you that Power Grid feeling without the need for a map. Pawel kicks off with Tyranny in the video games section, an RPG in which you're forced to play an evil character. The lads also talk about Eve Valkyrie, the online space dogfighting VR game set in the Eve Online universe, and Chris's current favourite game Planet Coaster, the theme park simulator the world has been waiting for.
Oh, and Chris has a cold.
Enjoy!
In the last episode of the year Pawel will tell you ALL ABOUT the real-time strategy PC game Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, Euan chats about an old classic RPG from Sierra called Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, and Chris talks about My Summer Car, the bizarre mixture of car-building and survival game. Chris and Euan then give a summary of their night of tabletop party games, specifically Ultimate Werewolf and Two Rooms and a Boom, two similar and yet also very different hidden role/social deduction games. The episode rounds off with an interview with the designer of the party game Rebels Unite, Leandro Tokarevski, who tells us about the game and his thoughts when designing it.
Enjoy!
Chris, Euan and Pawel are back once again (for the renegade master) with more gaming chat! This week's tabletop section involves a long chat about their day playing Fantasy Flight's epic World of Warcraft: The Board Game, the game of grinding, experience, loot, dungeons, and lots of lovely different coloured dice. In the video games section, Chris talks about DinoSystem, the bloody difficult survival game set in a world of dinosaurs which is currently in early access, Euan talks about PSVR platform game Windlands, and the lads finish up with VR horror/shooter game The Brookhaven Experiment.
Enjoy!
In this week's episode, fantasy dungeon-crawling game Exanima with its "realistic" combat takes centre stage in the video games section, followed by a return to video/board game Armello and an update on Chris and Euan's journey through the Shenmue series. In the tabletop section, Chris and Pawel have an in-depth chat about the new Arkham Horror Card Game by Fantasy Flight, Chris quickly talks about another play of Star Wars: Rebellion, and Pawel tells us about Swedish tabletop RPG Symbaroum!
Enjoy!
Chris, Euan and Pawel are here in this bonus episode to talk about Playstation VR! Includes a good chat about VR itself as an experience, and also specific games, such as VR Worlds, Job Simulator, Sports Bar VR, Windlands, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood and Harmonix Music VR. Enjoy!
In this week's episode Chris and Euan begin with a shorter tabletop section, talking about Terraforming Mars, the most hyped board game from Essen this year. The video games section sees the podcast return to Don't Starve, with Euan deciding to give this mad survival game a go. Chris then chats about the surprisingly good Transformers Devastation, and gives a quick overview of the quirky fantasy farming simulator Slime Rancher.
Next week: Bonus Playstation VR episode!
Headquarters has officially moved, but the Unnecessary lads have still managed to squeeze in some epic-level gaming! A shorter video game segment has Pawel talking about cyberpunk/RPG game Dex which was released on consoles earlier this year, and Chris talks about the brutal online survival game Hurtworld in which the human players are the real monsters. Then a much, much longer tabletop section has the real meat of the episode: Twilight Imperium Third Edition, the epic sci-fi board game. Borg-like people save trading space cats from annihilation, barbarian lava-people take their vengeance on arrogant, intelligent aliens, politics close down the wormholes, full-on space battles take place over ancient worlds, and the meta-game rules all. Listen in to hear about Chris, Euan and Pawel's experience with this heavy-but-amazingly-fun game!
The lads are back! In this episode we begin with a tabletop segment in which Chris and Euan chat about their experience with Fantasy Flight's Battlelore and some comparisons to the other Commands & Colors systems, in particular Ancients. Chris then gives Pawel some existential dread by talking about the life-sim board game The Pursuit of Happiness by Artipia Games, in which the aim is to die happy. The video games section contains Pawel talking about the recent release of Rise of the Tomb Raider on PS4, which also involves him steering wildly into chatting about a dozen other game franchises while Chris tries to keep him on course. Chris then talks about Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander and its weird-but-brilliant mixture of 4x space strategy and JRPG combat, and the show wraps up with a lengthy chat about the early access release of Endless Space 2 and how it compares to the other Endless strategy games. Enjoy!
Chris, Euan and Pawel are back after a small (and unexpected) hiatus to bring you more chat about the world of gaming! This episode contains Chris talking about drunkenly playing the board/party games Codenames and Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, Euan kicks off a good chat about the Avalon Hill game Betrayal at House on the Hill, and there's an update on the Time Stories campaign that you probably thought we'd forgotten about. The video games section brings us Pawel's thoughts (and a healthy debate) about Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Chris talks about the weird and wonderful driving simulator Jalopy, Pawel tells us about the For Honor alpha and Euan adds to Chris's thoughts from last episode about the Tetris-with-physics multiplayer game Tricky Towers. Enjoy!
Chris and Euan are back to officially kick off Year Two of the podcast! The video games section begins with the lads filling your ears with chat about Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, adventure mystery game Gone Home, and Tetris-like multiplayer puzzle game Tricky Towers. The tabletop section is mostly given over to civilisation-building strategy board game Mare Nostrum: Empires, and finishes with a fun one: Robo Rally, the chaotic board game of programming racing robots. Enjoy!
Also known as the Big Bumper Birthday Box-Social Bonanza, or the Unnecessaboutaversibash, this bonus episode celebrates one year of chatting nonsense about gaming! In this episode, Chris, Euan and Pawel have a long and relaxed chat about how the podcast started, how we got into board, video and roleplaying gaming, and how you can do the same. Enjoy!
A healthy chat about No Man's Sky takes up a good chunk of the video games section this week, with the Unnecessary crew debating what it is and isn't. Meanwhile, Pawel talks about Inside, the successor to Limbo, Euan tells us about sinister roguelike The Binding of Isaac, and Chris talks about programming in the excitingly-titled Human Resource Machine. Beer-making Euro board game Brew Crafters takes centre stage in the tabletop section, which also includes a rant about Kickstarter backers' faces, and Chris and Euan talk about the finale of their Imperial Assault campaign.
Also includes Tim Curry and public domain jazz, for some reason.
Enjoy!
Scythe is the game on everyone's lips at the moment, and Chris and Euan give you a lipful (or something) about it to kick off this episode! Also in the tabletop section is Fantasy Flight's Lovecraftian co-op game Elder Sign, and a quick update on the ongoing Star Wars: Imperial Assault campaign. In video games, Euan talks about Help: The Game, a collection of games made by various good-hearted developers for the charity War Child, and then the guys chat about the hilarious-but-chaotic couch co-op game Overcooked!
No Pawel in this episode, he's had his teeth removed, presumably by a medical professional.
Back to full strength as Pawel returns from wandering around in the countryside with his laptop! We begin with some video games chat, starting with Mirror's Edge Catalyst before moving on to new rogue-like game Lost Sea and the real-time strategy game Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak (with excellent pronunciation). We also have a brief chat about Rocket League, in particular playing it while drunk and the ranking system. The tabletop section sees us return to playing Fantasy Flight's board game Star Wars Imperial Assault, and then Pawel enlightens us about his perceived flaws in the 5th edition of the Shadowrun role-playing game. Enjoy!
A bonus video games episode, and we won't even ask you to pay for it! In this episode, Euan talks at length about Dragon Quest IX and Dragon Quest in general, while Chris talks about the new console version of one of his most played PC games 7 Days to Die, updates us on his continuing journey through The Solus Project, and also chats about Shadowrun Dragonfall, one of the installments of the newer Shadowrun series. Also, we have an announcement about the podcast's upcoming FIRST BIRTHDAY!
For the first time in this podcast's history, we have a special guest on the show! Lance Myxter, aka UndeadViking, from Tasty Minstrel Games joins the lads for a bumper board games episode. Our main games up for discussion and review are Keyflower, Viticulture, and Tasty Minstrel's latest Kickstarter Yokohama, but we also touch on many, many other games, including Time Stories, Defenders of the Last Stand, Battlestar Galactica, Shadowrun Crossfire, Guilds of London, and even some Dungeons & Dragons/Pathfinder chat. Also expect the most tangential show to date, with us wandering off to discuss such important matters as the Atari 2600, holding gaming grudges for decades, hiding Pawel in the attic, and an unexpectedly long chat about Game of Thrones. All in all it's an excellent conversational episode, give it a listen!
Link to the Kickstarter for Yokohama: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/michaelmindes/yokohama-deluxe-by-hisashi-hayashi-and-tmg
Chris and Euan are on their own for this episode, but they pack it with delicious gaming goodness. Forbidden Desert is first up in the tabletop segment, followed by Chris's experience with the pollution-fighting game CO2, and then both lads talk about the frustratingly-silly-but-fun card game Fluxx and its various versions. In video games, Euan chats about Uncharted 4 and how it compares to the other Uncharteds, and Chris tells us all about the gorgeous exploration/survival game The Solus Project. Also features a brief chat about the upcoming console version of 7 Days to Die!
Sorry, no Pawel this episode. He's hiding corpses.
Star Wars: Rebellion takes centre stage in our board gaming section as Chris and Pawel gush about its excellence, and Euan talks us through Food Chain Magnate and its cynical in-game methods of advertising burgers and lemonade. Pawel begins the video game chat by having a rant about the business model of the Total War series then enables its creators by getting sucked into the latest version of it, Total War: Warhammer. Meanwhile Euan tells us about the fun 2D sci-fi shooter game Galak-Z, and Chris talks about his return to the world of Oros to finish Far Cry Primal.
Also includes irrelevant chat about nerd currency, Pawel's need for escapism, and punching chickens. Enjoy!
The lads are back with a milestone episode! In this episode Pawel tells us all about Banner Saga 2 and his absorption into that world, Chris loves repeatedly dying in Running with Rifles, and Euan is confused by the Twin Peaks-esque PS3 game Deadly Premonition. We round off the episode with a lengthy discussion about the board game Xia: Legends of a Drift System and the problems with dice. It's a belter!
Chris and Euan are without a Pawel to keep them company again, so they take the opportunity to chat about Soccer City, the football board game they know he'd hate. Also on the cards is the older classic Tribune: Primus Inter Pares, a Roman-themed set collection game and one of the first board games Chris ever picked up. In the video game section there's some chat about Blizzard's addictive squad-based FPS Overwatch, and we end the show with Alienation, a PS4 game about... well, killing aliens.
Pawel returns from The Fatherland to rejoin Chris and Euan in this extremely conversational and record-breaking episode, and by that we mean it's unintentionally the longest one we've done to date. We kick things off with Pawel chatting about cowering behind his shield in Dark Souls 3 (then running screaming off a cliff), while we all compare it to the entire Souls series, including Demon Souls and Bloodborne. Euan tells us about his return to the excellent 2D platformer Rogue Legacy, and Chris talks about his dabbling in things like the Doom Beta, Surgeon Simulator, The Escapists, and the sandbox MMORPG Black Desert Online. The tabletop section starts with a lengthy discussion of the Dark Souls board game Kickstarter and Chris's wariness of buying into the hype, and then we talk about games we've actually played, such as the fantastic dice game Roll for the Galaxy, and the weird real-time board game Time 'n' Space. It's a long 'un, but it's a good 'un.
The Pawel vacuum is extremely apparent in this episode as Chris and Euan battle their way through a review of Splendor, become Chinese farmers in At the Gates of Loyang, and chat at length about Lords of Waterdeep and its expansion Scoundrels of Skullport. Also, Chris gets over himself and talks a bit more about The Division and his first few hours in the fantasy 4x world of Endless Legend (with some comparisons to Endless Space), and both hosts continue to have their minds blown by Factorio and its beautiful efficiency.
Alchemists brings out Chris' inner lab technician while Airlines Europe reveals Pawel to be a cynical capitalist, Euan is moved to become a history lecturer by Thebes: The Tomb Raiders until being sucked into the world of Factorio. We also return to Tom Clancy's The Division with a less enthusiastic take from Chris who is also trying to escape from jail in The Escapists and terrify Pawel with Who's Your Daddy.
Pawel returns and while organising the first ever unnecessarycon we find time to go into space with Eclipse and X-Wing Miniatures then things get wierd with Please Don't Touch Anything. We also return to the world of triple A console gaming with Far Cry: Primal and The Division.
Chris finally attains his dream of winning a non-existent Spanish football league in Time of Soccer, we keep it SPORTS! related with Blood Bowl: Team Manager and Punch Club. Plus: This War of Mine and Firewatch. Go team.
Pawel joins us again and we try to coax a review out of him for post apocalyptic RPG Degenesis but he would much rather talk at length about XCOM 2. We also discuss Spirits of the Rice Paddy and BEST GAME EVAR Cosmic Encounter.
Euan is away on unrelated business so we've got Pawel for the first time live on the show standing in as co-host in this frantic episode!
Featuring discussion of strange monsters in King of New York and Thea: The Awakening and a large portion of the podcast is inevitably given over to Star Wars with the release of the board game Imperal Assault and Battlefront(field) on consoles. Meanwhile Euan continues his retread of old PC games with Grim Fandango: Remastered.
Euan Plays Railroads! and ponders what Sid Meier is up to in his shed, Chris discusses Armello and controvertial Kickstarter project Dragon Fin Soup and Pawel finally finishes talking about RPGs, plus Commands and Colours: Ancients!
Chris and Euan try their hands at bomb disposal in Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Pawel finally manages to talk about some RPGs and we discuss another episode of T.I.M.E stories: The Marcy Case, among other things.
We discuss the first part of new episodic board game T.I.M.E Stories and Chris gets into Fallout 4. Then Euan rambles incoherently about his love of the Dragon Quest series.
Euan goes mildly Old Skool PC with Jurassic Park Operation Genesis while Chris goes Triple A console with Assasin's Creed Syndicate, who wins? Nobody. We also get out some board games: Lancaster and the potentially inflammatory Wok Star.
We try our hand at a themed episode by throwing together reviews of various games with tangential relation to the Cold War. Prepare yourself for Russian marches, ropey accents and a whole lot of fun!
We scrape together an episode with one video game (The Talos Principle) and one board game (Shadows Over Camelot) and our first ever golden bit of correspondence from Pawel. Just put it on, open your Greek beer, and let it go.
A board game heavy episode: we discuss Space Cadets: Away Missions, Imperial Settlers and Compounded. We only talk one video game this episode, but it's a good 'un!
A slightly shorter episode featuring more Batman and Dragon Age discussion and introducing creaky chair noises! We look at a couple of quick-to-play card games: Love Letter and Sheriff of Nottingham, Chris gives his thoughts on the Shadowrun series and space survival game Rimworld.
We slog through Warhammer 40K: Forbidden Stars, compare Suburbia and Castles of Mad King Ludwig then move on to more pressing issues such as Batman and a long spiel from Chris about 7 Days to Die.
A brief introduction to your hosts, explanation of the theme tune and the topics up for discussion (ie: not Monopoly). Then we have a look at some board games (Concordia, XCOM and Tiny Epic Kingdoms) and some video games (Mini Metro, TIS100, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Styx: Master of Shadows) which prompts a rambling discussion of sewer sections and obscure JRPGs.