Night Soil, Strange Pictures, and Joyride: Survival of the Fastest - Ep235

In the world of games we’re talking about CMYK’s Grabble, which is a lovely box of random things that make for one heck of a fast-playing tabletop game, and Shredders from I-Illusions, which manages to be the Skate of snowboarding. Resident Evil is what we’re watching in the cinema, and over on Apple TV there’s post-apocalyptic thriller Silo. All that, and a professor with a crap job, on Ep257.

Peter got a cat and named it after a “food”, as well as slapping plastic on his phone screen to play modern Game Boy games via Playtiles Season 2. Sam became the best dad in the world by playing a lot of Hot Wheels for his son, and wrangling words with The Fridge Game from Big Potato Games. Dan coincidentally also became the best dad in the world by buying himself a game and going back in time to play Halo: Campaign Evolved. All that, and car cricket, on Ep256.

Are you ready to head to the woods? We hope so, because that’s what we’re off to in this latest episode of our silly little podcast about games and movies and that. We’re joined by special guest Rob Trounce from Zatu, who tells us all about Strange Games Festival, including an incredible-sounding game of Werewolf in the Dark from Alan Gerding and Andy Patton. There’s also much chat about import darling Create Camp from Sky Huang via Travel-Games and Richard Garfield and Christian Kudahl’s draft battler Final Titan. Plus we go on a big walk with, uh, Big Walk from House House, and swing about the city with Spider-Man: Brand New Day. All that, and a pair of well-meaning gifts, on Ep255.

Surely Big Potato’s most popular game, The Chameleon is the perfect entry for new board gamers, but also for big groups in a more casual, lighthearted setting. While on the other side of the spectrum, Gregg Jewell’s latest, Galdor’s Grip, is unlike anything you’ve ever played: it’s an ultra indie solo game of deck manipulation, it’s pay what you want and print and play, and you don’t need a table to run it (which is fine, because we cannot put it down). The Ticket Booth from Grandpa Beck’s Games, picked up at Gen Con, is half an hour of open set collection, hate drafting, annoying your friends, nice little twists on mechanics that keep things fresh, and… cows? In video game land, Stray Fawn’s Dungeon Clawler is an audiobook/podcast game par excellence, combining the fundamental mechanics of arcade claw machines with the “one more go” and item combination of roguelike dungeon crawling. All that, and the next big title based on carnival games, on Ep254.

Nolan’s latest masterpiece is an epic subject of conversation on this episode, in which we ask the big questions. Is it okay to compare the film to the poem/book? Are you really watching the movie if you’re not at an IMAX? Rattlesnake is an all out slugfest in the Wild West, from Michael Hardacre, Roland MacDonald, and Osprey Games, and it’s the sort of chaos we love. Plus mrdboy brings us MR FARMBOY, a game that looks like an equally pleasant spin on Stardew Valley, but is actually all about automation and building a farming empire. All that, and rubbing the wrong region, on Ep253.