1 Player Podcast

This week Julius and I go out on a limb and talk about miniatures gaming.  Turns out this isn't a subject we really know much about so we struggle to come up with some good examples of it.  Still, I think the episode is useful if you are curious about miniatures gaming and want to find out a bit about what that is.

Also, check out the new YouTube channel for an alternate way to listen to the show.

• 08:55 Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms (BGG)
• 10:30 Rangers of Shadowdeep (BGG)
• 13:30 Adventures of Robin Hood (BGG)
• 16:05 Solo Wargamer's Guide (BGG)
• 18:00 Mice & Mystics (BGG)
• 23:45 Too Many Bones (BGG)

This week Julius is back (but staying far far away from my teleporter).  He talks about being lost in space in the game Unsettled in which you are exploring new planets while lost in space.  It's a big big episode about a big big game!

This week Julius and I return to talk, yet again, about Sentinels of the Multiverse.  This time we change things up a bit and talk about new content.  First, we talk about the Cauldron expansion for the  original editions.  Then we talk about the Definitive Edition and our thoughts on that.

The Cauldron

This week I'm talking about another solo RPG.  It's Star Trek Captain's Log by Modiphius Games.  Due to some technical issues, I ended up recording alone.  Hopefully any problems are resolved before the next recording.  Sorry Julius!

This is an interesting game in which you create a character to tell stories that feel like an episode of any one of the TV  series.  It's a versatile system that is worth checking out if you are a Star Trek fan.  Just be ready for a bit of a struggle to find the fine.

This week Julius is out so I have a special guest.  A podcast listener, ChrisOkay, comes on the show to talk me into playing Expedition to Newdale.  The game will eventually get played by me but that is probably years away.  Technically, I did play it a couple of times when I first got it... one solo and one with my son.  Chris thinks I should play it sooner and really get it on the table.  So, he tells me all about the game.  I have to admit, it sure sounds fun!

Newdale is actually the 3rd game in the Longsdale series but only the 2nd soloable game.  I have the other game in the series, Tybor the Builder and have yet to play that either :|

• Expedition to Newdale (BGG)
• Oh My Goods! Big Box (BGG)
• Tybor the Builder (BGG)

Here's the cards I mentioned in the show.  You can follow the path from the next game I'll be talking about (Star Trek Captain's Log) all the way down to Newdale, a lifetime away!

This week Julius and I discuss set collection solo games.  We each bring three games that we think include set collection in the mechanics and are interesting solo games.  Just a footnote here... I am right about Agricola.  The first set of three sheep gets you a point.  After that, every set of two sheep gets you a point!  If you disagree, just let me know.

• 08:15 Onirim
• 11:00 Pandemic: The Cure
• 13:25 Agricola
• 19:00 Isle of Cats
• 23:22 PAX
• 26:00 So You've Been Eaten

I accidentally used Podbeans AI processing.  Let's see how it sounds.. the description below is from their's.

Welcome to Episode 334 of the One Player Podcast, where we dive headfirst into the unique game systems of '20 Strong' and 'Solar Sentinels'. Join our host Albert as he navigates through the intriguing mechanics, quality of components, and player strategies of these engaging board games.

First, Albert explores '20 Strong', a solo game based on dice allocation and stat-tracking. Understand the game's high-quality components, unique mechanics, and criticism about the glittery dice. Despite being light on theme, Albert describes '20 Strong' as strategically captivating and provides an in-depth review of its gameplay.

In the second part of this episode, Albert shifts focus to the cosmos with the game, 'Solar Sentinels'. Our hosts shed light on their firsthand experiences of this complex game. Though the game's theme elicits differing reactions, the hosts agree on the game's strategic challenge that revolves around managing three different character card attributes.

The final segment invites you into the captivating world of dungeon crawlers. The episode provides intriguing discussions about the play dynamics, balance within games, and the aesthetic aspects of the game.

Deftly uncovering the intricacies of '20 Strong', 'Solar Sentinels', and dungeon crawlers, the One Player Podcast caters to both beginners and seasoned players looking to up their game.

This week's game is Dungeon Pages, a roll and write by Jasons Greeno & Tagmire.  It's a roll and write dungeon crawl game.  It was initially released once over the course of a year.  Each week you would get a new dungeon page.  Effectively a hero with their set of five dungeons to explore.  Each of those pages is a quick campaign game that can be played in under 30 minutes!

This week Julius and I talk about Bullet ♥︎ and, really, Bullet ★. These games are in the style of Bullet Hell video games were bullets are flying all over the place in overwhelming quantities.  It's a really fast playing simultaneous play game with a timer.  Julius find the timer optional and I appreciate that because it makes the game sound more fun to me.

• Bullet ♥︎ (BGG)
• Bullet ★ (BGG)
• Bullet series (Level 99)

This week's episode I tell Julius all about the game Red Cathedral, in which you are tasked with helping to build St. Basil's Cathedral in Russia.  It's an interesting game with beautiful artwork and a very simple AI for the solo gamer.  Fortunately, I did most of the talking this week.  Julius's audio was a bit garbled and I was unable to clean it up.

This week Julius and I look at Mathy and try to figure out if the subject adds up for us.  We had some conversations I thought were interesting in what makes or doesn't make a mathy game while presenting six different examples.

• 07:00 Sprawopolis (BGG)
• 08:50  Castles of Burgundy (BGG)
• 15:20 Friday (BGG)
• 17:15 Cartographers (BGG)
• 19:45 Search for Planet X (BGG)
• 21:30 Racetrack (mistakenly called Vector Racing) (BGG, Wikipedia)

This week Julius and I revisit a classic realtime game... Escape: The Curse of the Temple, in which you Indiana Jones your way out of a cursed temple.  Hurry though, you only have 10 minutes!

• Escape: The Curse of the Temple (BGG, Queen Games)

This week Julius and I talk about Flamecraft, a fun worker placement-ish game of running around being a good dragon.  It is actually worker placement but for me it felt more like running around doing errands than like placing workers.

• Flamecraft (BGG, Cardboard Alchemy)

This week Julius and I look at Cyberion, the latest Oniverse game my Shadi Torbey.  It's a cool game about fighting the Devious Cog whose trying to destroy your factory.  We really like the Oniverse and send almost an hour discussing this game!

• Cyberion (BGG)

This week we learn how to start a new zoo!  Julius tells us about New York Zoo, a game in which you are trying to build a new zoo with animals and rides.  It's a rondel game with polyominoes by Uwe Rosenberg and pretty family friendly.

• New York Zoo (BGG)

This week's popular mechanics episode is a bit unorthodox.  Instead of looking at a single mechanic, we talk about mechanics (or game stuff) that caught our attention in 2023.

• 03:10 For Northwood! (BGG)
• 05:15 Bullet⭐ (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/343844/bullet)
• 10:55 Wreck This Deck (RPG Geek)
• 14:20 Bruges (BGG)
• 1 7:45 Banish the Snakes (BGG)
• 20:35 Legacy of Yu (BGG)
• 21:10 Habitat (BGG)
• 24:37 Overboss (BGG)
•  

This week I go solo and talk about an RPG called Wreck This Deck.  The title says it all, this is a game in which you get to alter and craft on a deck of playing cards all while trapping demons, doing readings and casting spells.   Best of all, you are altering cards!

These are the cards I've altered.  

• Wreck This Deck (RPG Geek, itch.io, Reddit)
• Discord (Unofficial)
• My list of demons and entities (Unkn's)

This week I'm out, as well as next week, so Julius and family fill in to talk about a solo poker game!

• Lock & Spell (BGG, Jupiter Valley Studios)

This week's episode, I talk about a small game called Age of Civilization, in which you can play through the rise and fall of empires in about 30 minutes.  It's a fun little worker placement game with lots of choices and lots of variability.  The entire show collapses at the end when my headphones run out of battery.

This week Julius shares a game he can't stop gushing about.  It's Endangered, the cooperative game about saving endangered species.  It's a neat little compact game with an interesting theme and nice artwork. 

Poor Julius sprained his wrist pretty badly and has been struggling with shuffling cards.  This week we brainstorm games that we can play without having to do all that shuffling.

• 02:30 Escape: The Curse of the Temple (BGG)
• 04:15 Search for Planet X (BGG)
• 06:25 Search for the Lost Species (BGG)
• 09:00 Fields of Arle (BGG) 
• 10:50 Caverna: Cave vs Cave (BGG)
• 13:00 Nautilion (BGG)
• 14:50 Castellion (BGG)
• 15:45 Top Ten Games You Can Play in Your Head by Yourself (RPG Geek)
• 21:00 Under Falling Skies (BGG)
• 26:00 Ricochet Robot (BGG)

This week's game is Pericle: The Gathering Darkness.  It's a fantasy adventure board game set in a world that reminds me of ancient Rome or Greece.  It is app driven to simulate playing with a game master and really does feel a lot more like playing an RPG than it feels like playing a boardgame.  I very much have enjoyed playing the game and think it is a pretty unique experience.

The game was kindly provided by the publisher, Long Dog Games.

• Pericle: The Gathering Darkness (BGG, Long Dog Games)

This week Julius and I revisit the game PAX by Bernd Eisenstein and published by Irongames.  This game is a small, fast playing drafting game that reminds me (but not Julius) of 7 Wonders.

• PAX (BGG, Irongames)
• PAX: Noctornus (BGG)

Oops, I forgot to attach the episode to the 1st post.

This week Julius and I talk about The Spill, a game about saving the environment from a dangerous oil spill from a deep sea rig.  It's a cooperative game with some interesting components and lots to talk about.

• The Spill (BGG, Smirk & Dagger, Smirk & Dagger Deluxe)

This week we talk about the Ravensburger game by Propero Hall, Wonder Woman: Challenge of the Amazons.  This is a very affordable, family friendly co-operative game that isn't intended for solo but can work if you don't mind making a few compromises.

• Wonder Woman (BGG)

This week Julius and I talk past each other as I try to describe games that are good if you want more enjoyment from the game than just the time at the table, or as I call it, the Game Between the Game.  Not all is in agreement here though so come listen and decide how you feel about this topic.  Let us know what you think about the topic.  Do you agree with either of us?

• Lord of the Rings: the Card Game (BGG, FFG)
• Arkham Horror (2nd edition) (BGG)
• Hostage Negotiator (BGG, VRG)
• For Northwood! (BGG, Side Room Games)
• Ironsworn (RPG Geek, Ironsworn.com)

This week I tell Julius all about the GMT Games title Banish the Snakes.  You play as St. Patrick or some of the other saints that worked to convert Ireland to Christianity as the Roman Empire and Roman Britain and collapsed.  This is a really interesting historical title that plays very similarly to a Pandemic but with the complexity taken up a notch or two.

• Banish the Snakes (BGG, GMT Games)

This week Julius tells us about Skytear Horde.  A cooperative card game not too unlike M:tG.  In it you play cards to cast spells and summon allies.  A rift has torn the sky open and from that tear emerges a horde of demons, more or less one at a time in a pretty orderly fashion to defeat you!  You can play solo or cooperatively to defeat this horde and their boss!

• Skytear Horder (BGG, Skytear)

This week I preset a cool little 2-player dueling game which also includes solo rules.  The game is set in an alternate history earth around the time (and place) of Genghis Khan.

• Worldbreakers (BGG, Worldbreakers website)

This week Julius and I talk about the relatively new game, Skoventyr.  This was designed by Morten Monrad Pederson and produced by Shadi Torbey (of Oniverse fame).  This is a light but fun game of running around the forest trying to escape from the devil, or Gamle Erik as he is known in Danish folklore.

• Skoventyr (BGG)

This week Julius and I manage to fit a bunch of games into a small 30 minute space.  This Popular Mechanics episode is about polyomino games with their funny shaped pieces.  Think Tetris.

• Cartographers (BGG)
• Kingdom Rush (BGG)
• Spring Meadow (BGG)
• Nmbr 9 (BGG)
• ROVE: Results-Oriented Versatile Explorer (BGG)
• Clip Cut Parcs (BGG)

Honorable Mentions

• Eureka journal of recreational mathematics (Cambridge)
• Cottage Garden (BGG)
• Indian Summer (BGG)
• Project L (BGG)
• Isle of Cats (BGG)
• Feast for Odin (BGG)
• Patchwork (BGG)
• Agricola - really? (BGG)
• Ada Lovelace: Consulting Mathematician (BGG)
• Cities: Skylines (BGG)
• Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write (BGG)
• Katamino (mistakenly called Polyominoes on the show) (BGG)

This week, Julius tells us about the cooperative game, Keep the Heroes Out!, in which, well, you are trying to keep heroes out of your dungeon.  You play as one of a number of dungeon denizens.  You'll go is to keep the wave after wave of pesky humans out of your dungeon by killing them, all while trying to do some other, scenario based thingy.   It's a super-cute looking game with a neat theme.  From all Julius tells us, it was very nicely implemented and lots of fun.  Check it out!

• Keep the Heroes Out (BGG, Brueh Games)

In a galaxy far, far away you get to be a bounty hunter after your next target.  Nothing will stop you though many enemies will try to get in your way.  Notorious is a solo journalling RPG about being a bounty hunter in a hardscrabble world.

Unable to record this week, Julius's family picks up my slack by talking about the Adventures of Robin Hood.  This is an adventure game in which players cooperatively, or one player controlling multiple heroes, explores Sherwood Forrest as Robin Hood and his Merry Men (in tights). Their description of it and the look of it reminds me a lot of the excellent video game Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood.

• The Adventures of Robin Hood (BGG)
• Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood (Steam)

This week Julius tells us about the solo game Wreckland Run. It's a Mad Max kinda world and you are racing around collecting spare parts and building up your arsenal of a car in a short 7 game campaign game.  This is part of the Solo Heroes series from Renegade Games.  See what Julius thinks and how he ranks it against the rest.  Hint:  this one doesn't even rank for him!

• Wreckland Run (Renegade Game Studios, BGG)

This week Julius and I look at games with modular boards.  It's one of my favorite "mechanics" in a game.  I really like games where the setup is different each round and it affects how the game plays out.  The bigger the impact, the better!

• Clank! In Space (BGG)
• Under Falling Skies (BGG)
• Keep the Heroes Out (BGG)
• Descent (BGG)
• 7th Continent (BGG)
• Forbidden Island (BGG)
• PARKS (BGG)
• Five Tribes (BGG)
• Magic Maze (BGG)
• Carcassone (BGG)

I was out with COVID so Julius and family picked up my slack and revisited a cool little game called PARKS.  Visit the National Parks in a very pretty game with an interesting solo bot.  But do they like it?

This week Julius and I look at the charming little trick taking game For Northwood!.  It's a fun and interesting game in a tiny package.

• For Northwood! (BGG)
• Solo trick-taking games (BGG)

This week I was lost in time.  Julius and family picked up my slack and took an anachronistic look at a Jurrasic Park legacy game Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar.  It sounds like a fun family experience and a good solo game.

• Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar (BGG)

Warning: there are spoilers sprinkled throughout this episode.

I've always been curious about this game but have never tried it.  Julius does me the curteousy of telling me all about how it works.  It sounds like a fun, light and puzzling experience but not as cold as being up on the side of a mountain.

• K2 (BGG, Rebel.pl)

This episode comes out 12 years to the day after the 1st podcast!  Huzzah!  Just to liven things up a bit, Julius and I decided to do something a bit different (just a bit) and make this popular mechanics episode about Kickstarter and Kickstarter games.  Julius had some interesting points about Kickstarter as a tool and platform and I especially enjoyed looking through all the various items I've backed before and seeing how far things have come.

• Kickstarter

This week Julius and I get Space Hulk: Death Angel back to the table.  This is the classic game of dying a brutal death and just watching your team of Space Marines get decimated by a bunch of alien scum.  This is a cooperative game published by Fantasy Flight games and is based on Games Workshop's Warhammer 40K universe.  It's  a well loved solo game that is now long out of print but come see it fairs after a very long hiatus on the 1 Player Podcast.

This week Julius and I talk about Legacy of Yu, from Shem Phillips and Garphill Games.  This is part of their Ancients Anthology collection by the same designer.  Unlike those games, this game is made for solitaire play only. It's a resource management game with a legacy aspect to it.  You will play until you have either won seven games or lost seven games.

This week we revisit a mechanic Julius quite likes in the form of a game called Black Angel.  Honestly though, we don't talk about that mechanic much at all.  The mechanic in question is a scrolling board that we encountered in Solenia about a year ago or so.  Black Angel uses that same mechanic and a whole lot more in a bigger more complex package with much more vibracity!

• Black Angel (BGG)
• Real Black Angel by MC 900 Ft Jesus with DJ Zero (YouTube)

This week we look at a classic fantasy gamebook from the 90s, or more accurately, we look at a few books in the Fabled Lands series.  These are some rather unique gamebooks in that they are open ended and you are able to explore freely, travelling on a map in each book.  You can even travel between the books and progress through them as your character levels up.  There are seven books in the series, plus one traditional style gamebook and even a novella.  Best of all, they are still available and actually pretty inexpensively that's to Print on Demand publishing.

• Fabled Lands series (Amazon, RPG Geek, publisher, gamebooks.org)

This week we are back to Popular Mechanics.  Well, sort of. I'm back but Julius is on vacation so I have a special guest. It's the return of Deborah from Geek Gamers!  She chose the episode's mechanic and it led to some interesting discussions and a small bit of confusion.  There's a bit of audio issues.. sorry about that.  Fortunately, it doesn't linger around very long at all.

• 07:30 - League of Dungeoneers (BGG)
• 12:00 - Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of Ashardalon (BGG)
• 18:30 - Mistfall (BGG)
• 25:48 - Arkham Horror: LCG (BGG)
• 35:30 - Dawn of the Zeds (BGG)
• 42:49 - Dark Gothic: A Touch of Evil game (BGG)
• 50:00 - Ambush! (BGG)
• 54:00 - Dungeon Degenerates (BGG)

A few other mentioned games

• Mini-Rogue (BGG)
• Fortune and Glory (BGG)
• Hexplore It (BGG)
• A Touch of Evil (BGG)
• Open Fire (BGG)
• Firepower (BGG)

Let's take a look at Merchants of the Dark Road.  This is a 1-4 player competitive game that includes an automa for solo play.  It's a beautiful looking game with lots of shiny components (if you get the deluxe version) but got mixed feedback from our Julius.

• Merchants of the Dark Road (BGG, Elf Creek Games)
• Deluxe edition (Elf Creek Games)

This week we talk about the vertical scrolling, space shoot-em up game, The Battle at Kemble's Cascade.  Don't worry though.  This isn't a video game but a board game with a theme of a space shooter video game.  It's a pretty unique concept that does a great job of simulating a video game.  It's a lot of fun but it does have a few small issues.

• The Battle at Kemble's Cascade (BGG)

This week Julius talks about the Wyrd Miniatures game, Vagrantsong.  The publisher is known for making miniatures games but this one uses plastic standies instead.  This is a tactical combat game with a campaign.  Think Gloomhaven or Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion but without quite the oomph of those games.

This week Julius tells me all about the game Resist!.  This is a game about the Spanish maquis during the Spanish Revolution.  You take control of a number of maquis and complete missions by fighting the defenders at the location.  This is a deck-building game, though come to think of it, I didn't get the impression there is a lot of deck building involved but maybe I just missed that.  Anyway, it's a cool looking game with really nice art that also sounds very fun.

This week Julius and I finally return to our Popular Mechanic series.  In this brief episode, we talk about games that are "one and done".   Basically you play the game once and then can move on from that game, never to return... EVER.  Maybe.

This week we have a very special episode.  I have a nice long chat with Deborah, the host of the  Geek Gamers YouTube channel.  We talk about all sorts of things including her channel, playing RPGs solo and her new book, Solo Game Master's Guide.  The title says it all.  This book is a handy guide for anybody that plays or wants to play RPGs solo.

• Geek Gamers (YouTube)
• Solo Game Master's Guide (Modiphius, Amazon.com)
• Wanderings: A Gothic Roll and Read Table (Amazon.com)
• Princess Ryan's Star Marines (BGG)

This is the final episode in our Oniverse series. Fittingly, it ends with us visiting more of the Oniverse in the way of voyages to other galaxies... well, sorta.  In this game, you don't travel anywhere but you enable ships to launch into outer space to visit 4 different galaxies.  This is a game about deck management and getting the right cards to show up at the right time in your various interplanetary decks.

• Stellarion (BGG, InPatience)

As Julius and I make our way through the Oniverse, we've caught a breeze and ended up in the lands of Aerion where we are charged with making flying machines.  This is a Yahtzee like game in which you roll dice and try to manage good combinations.  You use those results to gather resources which are used to create amazing flying machines.  The game includes quite a few interesting expansions.

• Aerion (BGG, InPatience)

Our journey in the Dreamlands continue.  This time we drop below the waves for an undersea adventure with a guest aboard.  This, I think, may be the most thematic of all the Oniverse games so far.  This time we'll recruit some of the denizens of the oceans to help defeat the bad baddy - the Darkhouse!  He's the opposite of a lighthouse :D

Week three of our tour of the Oniverse.  This week Julius and I visit the sandy beaches of Castellion and help the citizens build defensive formations again the armies of the Ravage (which we never see).  Castellion is a tile laying game in the Oniverse series in which you carefully place the citizens of Castellion into defensive formations of lines and squares.  This is a really interesting game!

* Castelion (BGG, InPatience)

Week 2 of the Oniverse!  Julius and I look at the 2nd big box Oniverse game, Sylvion.  This time around, we are protecting a dream forest for an attacking army of fire elementals.  It was fun to revisit this game and get a 2nd look at it.  Myself, I hadn't played in almost 8 years!

We start the year off with a bang! This week, we have Jason Montgomery of the Meeple, Myself and I podcast and/or geeklist.  The three of us talk about the original Oniverse game, Onirim. This will kick off a series in which we re-visit each game in the Oniverse working our way up to Stellarion which just came out about a month ago.

• Onirim (BGG)
• Onirim 2nd edition (BGG, InPatience)
• Oniverse family (BGG, InPatience)
• Meeple, Myself and I (BGG, podcast)

This week Julius and I take a quick look at Transmissions.  It's a beautiful game about robots wandering around discovering nature.  If the theme, sounds pasted on, well, maybe but listen in because under the shiny but thin veneer is a veritable gem.  ...Or so Julius tells us

• Transmissions (BGG)

Be polarized with our discussion of A Touch of Evil: Dark Gothic.  This is a deck-building game set in the Touch of Evil Universe by Flying Frog Productions.  Some folks love the stylized cosplay photography on the cards and some just can't stand it.  Other than that, this is a pretty standard deck-builder with a satisfying theme. 

• A Touch of Evil: Dark Gothic (BGG, Flying Frog)

This week we talk about Dice Worker Placement games.  You'll get to learn just how much I don't know about the subject.  Thankfully, Julius has some good recommendations.

• Under Falling Skies
• So, You've Been Eaten
• Endangered
• Pocket Landship
• Artemis Project
• Twin Stars
• Black Angel

This week's game is a solo/competitive game in which you are trying to be the scientist to first discover planet X.  Scientist have theorized that there must be a yet to be found planet out in space.  The math adds up right to prove it.  Nobody's found it yet.  In this deduction game, you get to try and find the lost planet by playing against an app driven AI.

This week Julius talks about the game Knight Fall.  This is a skirmish game in which players control either the knights or demons that are trying to attack and destroy the knights in an attempt to unseal the gates to the underworld.  This is an asymmetrical game that can be soloed by playing a campaign game as the knights.

This week Julius and I revisit the tiny little 13 card micro-game Elevenses for One. In this solitaire game you play as an English maid tasked with getting tea for two ready in 15 minutes.  It's a daunting task considering that the tea pantry is in complete disarray.  This is a rather simple game of lining up 10 cards in the correct order but as you play each card, it may impact the subsequent cards.

We are an episode off.  We normally do a Popular Mechanics show every 5 episodes.  The next one will be on schedule at 280 or at least it should be.  Anyway!  This week Julius and I talk about skirmish games.  It's not exactly a mechanic but that's okay.  It was still interesting to think up skirmish solo games that I have enjoyed.  Here's the list from our discussion....

• 04:26 The South Shall Rise Again (BGG)
• 06:20 Knight Fall (BGG)
• 09:25 Sentinels of the Multiverse (BGG)
• 10:30 Marvel Crisis Protocol (BGG)
• 12:47 Hoplomachus: Origins (BGG)
• 14:31 Proving Grounds (BGG)
• 15:30 Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game (BGG)
• 18:10 Ambush (BGG)
• 18:37 Red November (BGG)
• 19:17 So, You've Been Eaten (BGG)
• 20:00 Space Hulk Death Angel (BGG)
• 20:57 Skies Above the Reich (BGG)
• 22:06 Warp's Edge (BGG)

This week Julius and I talk about a game we've both been playing, So, You've Been Eaten.  This is an asymetric game about mining gems from space-worm intestines.  You are a miner who jumps into Space Worms and mines gems as you travel through the digestive track.  You can play as either the miner or the space-worm, in either case, you are trying to survive the entire ordeal.

The game is designed by Scott Almes with fantastic art by Kwanchai Moriya.

• So, You've Been Eaten (BGG)

Julius and I are back with a look at Uwe Rosenberg's Field's of Arle.  It's a lovely game in which you get to relive the lives of Mr. Rosenberg's ancestors, well, more or less. It's at least a look at what life might have been like in the province of Arle, in Germany in the 18th century (as a worker placement game).

This week I go it alone in my little lighthouse.  I look at a small journaling RPG about keeping a lighthouse with, um, something supernatural underneath.  In this real-time game, each day you roll a few dice and record an entry in your logbook... # of ships, weather and any brief notes.  Then, you can also write in more detail about the day in a journal.  There, you will keep track of your comings and goings as well as any issues with the thing under the lighthouse.  It's a neat little game with a great idea that fell a little short for me.

• Log-book of the Lighthouse-keeper (Drive Thru RPG)

It's that time of year again!  It's time to make your Top 20 solo games list for the annual Top 100 (Top 200) list managed by Kevin Erskine!  Listen along with Julius as I prepare my list for Kevin

• 2022 Top 20 announcement & discussion thread (BGG)
• My Top 20 (29)
  1. Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
  2. Onirim
  3. Nusfjord
  4. Ragemore
  5. Sentinels of the Multiverse
  6. Castellion
  7. At the Gates of Loyang
  8. Nations: The Dice Game
  9. Conflict of Heroes
  10. Final Girl
  11. Navajo Wars
  12. Newton
  13. Elder Sign
  14. Disaster on K2
  15. Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu
  16. Escape: The Curse of the Temple
  17. Kanban EV
  18. AstroNavis Merchant Advanced
  19. PAX
  20. Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island
  21. Imperials Settlers
  22. The Isle of Dr Necreaux
  23. Outdoor Survival
  24. Space Hulk: Death Angel - The Card Game
  25. Hostage Negotiator
  26. Silverton
  27. Snowdonia
  28. Urbion/.Equilbrion
  29. Fields of Arle

This week Julius teaches me about the game Project L. L stands for that shape of piece in games like Tetris (or Project L), for example.  This is a polyomino game in which you are collecting and upgrading pieces to fit onto boards in order to complete the boards and get points.  It's a rather interesting sounding game and, by the way, the components look really good.

This week we have one of our Popular Mechancis episodes; but, this week we cheat!  We don't talk about a game mechanic per se.  Instead, we talk about big games.  What the heck does that mean though?  Julius and I talk about good games we each think are big.  What are your favorite big games?

• 06:00 Pandemic Legacy: Season 0 (BGG)
• 09:15 Arkham Horro (2nd Edition) (BGG)
• 10:40 Anachrony (BGG)
• 15:25 Ironsworn (RPG Geek)
• 21:10 Mechs vs. Minions (BGG)
• 24:20 Mage Knight Board Game (BGG)
• 24:55 SpaceCorp: 2025-2300AD (BGG)

We brought in our in-house real-time game expert, Julius to discuss Paramedics: Clear. As hinted above, it is a real-time game in which you play a paramedic rushing to save lives at time runs out.

This week Julius and I finally get around to talking about the 3rd Fantasy Flight co-operative LCG, Marvel Champions.  In this game you play as a super-hero trying to stop a villain from their evil scheme.  The game can be played with the pre-built hero-decks or you can do some pre-game deck construction to build some really powerful heroes.

• Marvel Champions (BGG, FFG)

We took another 1 week break but we come back with a two game discussion!  Okay, they are both small games and this episode ended up being a bit shorter than most but that's okay.  This week's games are similar in that in both you are lining up cards in numerical order.  Each supports 1 to 5 players and each seems fun.  Mind you, Julius and I each have only played one of the two games so we can't really compare if one is more fun than other but we can both say the game we played is definitely fun!

This week Julius tells me all about the game Kingdom Rush: Monsters, based on the tower defense for mobile devices.  The game's art and theme comes straight out of the video game and does a good job of copying the setting, but is it a tower defense game?  Julius doesn't think so.  Listen and get the scoop!

This week is one of our "long running" Popular Mechanics episodes.  This time around we look at deck building in solo games and talk a bit about some we like.

• 04:11 Friday (BGG)
• 07:08 Maiden's Quest (BGG)
• 11:27 Star Realms (BGG)
• 12:15 Star Realms: Frontiers (BGG)
• 14:13 Big Book of Madness (BGG)
• 15:00 Lewis and Clark (BGG)
• 20:20 Newton (BGG)
• 20:57 Rune Age (BGG)
• 24:18 Edge of Darkness (BGG)
• 27:31 The LOOP (BGG)
• 30:14 Warp's Edge (BGG)

Games I wrote down but didn't talk about

• Lost Ruins of Arnak (BGG)
• Thunderstone Advanced (BGG)
• Paperback (BGG)
• Valley of the Kings (BGG)
• Groves (BGG)
• Clank! (BGG)

This week, we look at a board game based on the classic Choose Your Own Adventure series originally published by Bantam.  In these classic game books, you are the hero of the story and as you read through, you get to make choices that very much affect how the story continues.  This was managed with a branching story in which you would read the book out of order.

This game tries to recreate that experience using one of the classic books, number 15 in the series.  It does a great job of making you feel like you are reading an old CYOA book but using cards instead of a book.

• The House of Danger game (BGG)
• The House of Danger book (gamebooks.org)

If you want to explore the House of Danger, listen to episode 264.

If you would rather avoid the House of Danger, go back to episode 263.

This week Julius and I, after taking a 1 week break from the podcast, take a 1 week break from talking about games. That's because this week we talk about puzzles in their various forms.  This is just a friendly chat about the types of puzzles we enjoy.  There are sooooo many types of puzzles it's not hard to find one that will suit you.

Here are some things we mentioned

• Math logic puzzles
  • Sudoku
  • Kakuro
  • KenKen
  • Nonograms
  • Bridges/Hashi
• Word puzzles
  • Wordle
  • Crosswords
• Think Fun
  • Rush Hour
  • Brick by Brick
  • Shape by Shape
• Logic puzzles
  • Pinochio "green hats" puzzle
  • LSAT
  • Montigue Island Mysteries
• Jigsaw puzzles
  • Heye Black or White
  • White puzzle

This week I tell Julius about the rather large Kanban EV.  This game is a re-implementation of the original Kanban and designed by Vital Lacerda.  This quite complex and challenging game was rather fancily produced by Eagle-Gryphon Games.  We talk about the game play and mechanics of the game without getting too deep into the details of how to play.

• Kanban EV (BGG, Eagle-Gryphon)

This episode is a bit different from the typical episode and that it doesn't really talk bout a game.  This week I have the pleasure of talking to Al Leduc, the designer of Yukon Airways.  Julius and I discussed this game two weeks ago.  I found the designer notes in the beginning of the rulebook really interested so I invited the designer to come talk about the back story of the game.  I found the conversation interesting because it gives some perspective to theme of the game and, hopefully, makes the game more interesting for those folks that are playing it.

• I think this is the Taco Bar at the confluence of the Wind River and the Peel River in the Yukon. (Google Maps)

This week Julius and I look at solo drafting games along with the helping, I'm sorry to say, of some barking dogs.  We talk a bit about what is or isn't a drafting game and briefly go over a half dozen or so games worth looking into.  While editing, I realized we completely overlooked a very obvious choice... Gates of Loyang. Darned, darned, darned.  It's an excellent example because the drafting mechanism in solo is much better than the multiplayer drafting.

• 03:45 - Clank! (BGG)
• 04:25 - Cascadia (BGG)
• 05:50 - Nations: The Dice Game (BGG)
• 07:30 - Hostage Negotiator (BGG)
• 12:55 - Canvas (BGG)
• 14:45 - Mechs vs Minions (BGG)
• 17:00 - PAX (BGG)
• 19:30 - Ilse of Cats (BGG)
• 21:50 - Imperial Settlers (BGG)
• 23:45 - Sylvion (BGG) & Aerion (BGG)
• 26:00 - Suburbia (BGG)
• 29:50 - Lux Aeterna (BGG)

This week Julius introduces us to a game called Yukon Airways by Al Leduc.  In this game, you play a pilot flying around the Yukon Territories and carrying passengers to various locations in a large and sparse region of Canada.  I believe the game is set in the mid-1900s but I'm not entirely sure about that.  Spin it!

This week we talk about a game I've had for years but only finally gotten around to playing it.  It's a game of gladiatorial arena combat for one or two players.  You compete in various arenas around the world in famous sites like El Dorado, Xanadu and Atlantis!  The game brings a large mix of gladiators to play with and is highly tactical.  It's a lot of fun but it's not a perfect game.  Check out what I think...

• Hoplomachus: Origins (BGG, Chip Theory Games)

This week Julius and I popped out an old favorite of ours.  It's Sentinels of the Multiverse, the original edition.  We talk about this unwieldy super-hero game and what we think of it.  How's it aged, considering there is now a second edition out that "fixes many of the problems" with the original. Neither of us have played the new one so we don't have that to taint our opinions!

• Sentinels of the Multiverse (BGG)
• Sentinels of Earth Prime (BGG)

This week Julius brings us another episode with his son.  The talk about the escape room style game Echoes: The Microchip.  This game is part of the Echoes series which includes audio interactions in the game.

Echoes: The Microchip (BGG)

This week Julius and I discuss worker placement games.  Drat, I forgot to write down the games we talked about in order.  I'll have to do that later on when I listen to the episode once it comes out.  If you want an exact, clickable list and you don't see it in the notes in your podcast player, visit 1PlayerPodcast.com and view the episode notes there.

Drat.

• 04:20 Agricola (BGG)
• 05:15 Feast for Odin (BGG)
• 05:55 Nusfjord (BGG)
• 07:10 Parks (BGG)
• 09:20 Caverna Cave vs. Cave (BGG)
• 10:00 Coldwater Crown (BGG)
• 12:40 Paladins of the West Kingdom (BGG)
• 16:40 Steam (BGG)
• 23:10 Kitchen Rush (BGG)
• A few games where mentioned in passing
  • Harbour (BGG)
  • Kanban EV (BGG)
  • Lost Ruins of Arnak (BGG)
  • Maquis (BGG)
  • Robinson Crusoe (BGG)
  • Manhattan Project: Energy Empire (BGG)
• 27:40 Far Space Foundry (BGG)

This week Julius tells us about his smartphone or, really, about his smartphone empire.  Smartphone, Inc. is a game in which you build a multinational smartphone company to rival any Android or iPhone!  Julius tells us all about interesting looking game with so-so art.  At least I think the art is so-so.

Note: This week we suffered some audio issues.  The quality is up to our normal standard but occaisonally the software we use, Zencastr.com, froze and we would have to restart.  I cut out some of that nonsense but you'll still come across some weird cuts.  I used dice rolls to mark those spots.

Unexpectedly, this week Julius tells us about this co-operative Back to the Future game.  Just in case you lived under a rock in the 80s, Back to the Future is the classic sci-fi movie featuring Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd and a Delorian.  Actually, it's based on all three movies in the Franchise.  It being that this is a movie tie-in game, you (or at least I) would expect to be pretty poor.  However, it was published by Ravensburger and they make pretty decent games.  This one sounds pretty darned cool!

• Back to the Future: Dice Through Time (BGG)
• Back to the Future (iMDb)
• Back to the Future Part II (iMDb)
• Back to the Future Part III (iMDb)

I actually only ever saw the first one.  Should I go watch the other two?

Don't be alarmed - this is not the final hour of this podcast!  Actually, we are talking about a game called Arkham Horror: Final Hour from Fantasy Flight Games.  It being an Arkham Horror game, you can pretty much guess what this game is about and like.  If you do, you'll be half right and half wrong.  Thematically, this is pretty much the same game as Arkham Horror or Arkham Horror: The Card Game.  You are running around fighting monsters and cultists while trying to stop some GOO from showing up.  Mechanically speaking, however, you will be surprised.  This game feels and plays very differently from other Arkham Horror games.

• Arkham Horror: Final Hour (BGG, FFG)

This week Julius tells us about a dice placement game called Artemis Project by Grand Gamers Guild.  This is a really nice looking game with some fantastic artwork and great components.  You are trying to colonize one of the moons of Jupiter, Europa, by mining and sailing the seas for stuff.  Check out what we (especially Julius who has played it) think about this game.

Incidentally, there is a real Artemis project by NASA.  It's stated goal is "With Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before".  It looks like the goal is to have this done by 2024 with the first unmaned mission in the project landing on the Moon 2022.

• Artemis Project (BGG, Grand Gamers Guild)
• Artemis Program (NASA)

This week Julius and I embark on a new journey of exploring interesting game mechanics.  We start off with multi-use cards.  It's more than which card should I play play.  It's which card should I play and how should I play it?  That mechanic, when done well, adds for interesting choices.

• 03:33 Bruge (BGG)
• 04:00 La Granja (BGG)
• 07:00 Oh My Goods! (BGG)
• 09:00 Lewis and Clark (BGG)
• 11:30 The Bloody Inn (BGG)
• 14:50 Imperial Settlers (BGG)
• 17:20 Gloomhaven (BGG)
• 18:00 Newton (BGG)
• 19:00 Race for the Galaxy (BGG)
• 19:30 Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition (BGG)
• 22:30 Batman: The Dark Night Returns (BGG)
• 24:20 Rove (BGG)
• 25:25 Spaceshipped (BGG)

This week we talk about the slasher film game Final Girl by A.J. Porfirio of Van Ryder Games.  This game is built on the foundation of Hostage Negotiator and expands on that system to make a fun but creepy game about trying to survive in a horror movie while a killer is after you.

This is a modular game series in which you need to buy at least two boxes to play, the core box with rules and a Feature Film box with a killer and location to play in.  With multiple Feature Films, you can mix and match killers for more variety in your games.

• Final Girl (BGG, VRG)
• Kickstarter Season 2 late pledge (Gamefound)

This episode is a family affair!  Julius and his son discuss the game Sprint, in which you play as the Turtle trying to race the Hare to the finish line!  This is a co-operative game that can easily be played solo.  Check it out.. is this a game you should get?

I'm starting to feel like I'm trapped in a time vortex as this week Julius tells me about yet another time traveling game.  This time, our crack team of time agents must stop the dastardly Professor Evil from stealing famous works of art from throughout time, lest he locks them in his own private vault for all time.

This is a relatively simple to play co-op game in the general style of Pandemic.  That is, a player does stuff and then bad stuff happens.  This game handles that bad stuff with dice rolls and it seems to work well enough.  Check it out!

• Professor Evil and the Citadel of Time (BGG, Asmodee)

This week Julius and I have a quick chat about Bismarck Solitaire, a book game published by Worthington Games in an effort to quickly and efficiently deal with the global shipping crisis created by the pandemic.  It's a light wargame in which you play as the famous German warship, the Bismarck and travel the Atlantic Ocean (not the English Channel & North Sea as I thought during the recording) trying to find British Warships and sink them.  The fact that I wasn't sure what body of water you are can in give you an idea how light the game is.  Well, sail the ocean and find enemies to sink while you plot a coarse on the map.  What is really different about this game is that you actually are writing in the book as you play.

• Bismarck Solitaire (BGG, Worthington)
• Waterloo Solitaire (BGG, Worthington)

According to a BGG thread, these are announced but not yet released

• Braveheart Solitaire
• Gettysburg July 1 and 2 Solitaire
• Antietam Solitaire
• Coral Sea Solitaire
• Stonewall in the Valley Solitaire

Julius and I look at the game Newton by Simone Luciani & Nestore Mangone.  This is a really interesting action selection game with some neat mechanisms.  Each round if you take subsequent actions of the same type, they become stronger and the types of actions are all very different.  It feels like a worker placement game in that you can never do as many things as you really want to.  The game was out of print for a couple of years but is now available again.

• Newton (BGG)
• Newton: Great Discoveries (BGG)
• Newton & Great Discoveries (BGG) ⇦the current edition!

This week Julius and I talk about the game Skyline Express.  This game seems to mix, trains, air travel, maybe steampunk and a post-apocalyptic past to bring you a fun experience but seems to fall short for Julius.

'

Skyline Express (BGG)

This week Julius tells us about City: Skylines a cooperative city building game by Rustan Håkansson, who designed Nations & Nations: The Dice Game.  Cities: Skylines is based on a video game IP and sounds like a big 'ol jigsaw of a game.  Check it out!

This week Julius and I gush about the game PARKS based on the US National Park system and the fantastic art from 59parks.net.  In this 1-4 player game, you play as hikers hiking through the parks, buying gear and filling your canteen along the way as you collect parks.  At it's heart it is a resource management game without enough time to collect all the resources you want.

• PARKS (BGG, publisher)
• 59parks.net (website)
• Field Notes Brand notebooks(website)

This week Julius and I talk about the time travelling game The LOOP.  More specifically, Julius tells me about the game.  It's got strikingly fantastic garish art and interesting game play.  Note that both of those facts are good things.

• The LOOP (BGG)

This week Julius and I look at something a bit different.  The Curioius Correspondence Club is a subscription service that will send you an escape room style mystery every month.  It comes in the form of a letter with all kinds of papercraft items that you use to solve the mystery.

Each letter is just about self contained, other than the internet you need to enter the final answer once you have solved all the puzzles.  You can also look at layered on-line hints if you get stuck with a puzzle.

The Curious Correspondence Club (website)

You ship got a bit too close to the sun and are now being pulled in. Sadly, your ship is suffering malfunctions due to the intense heat of the sun.  You need to rep[air all the modules as they break around you and divert power to the engine so you can escape the Sun's gravity.

This week we have a small episode in which I teach Julius the small game Solar Storm.  This is a fun little pandemic style cooperative game in a very small package.

This week I interview Elli Amir, designer of the game Worldbreakers: Advent of the Khanate.  This is a two player card game with a solo campaign mode which will be coming to Kickstarter in March.  I really enjoyed this conversation with Elli, not only did they talk about the game and the solo mode for the game but they told me a bit about the process of commissioning art for a game.  I really enjoy hearing the backstory for games and game design.  This was a really good conversation and I look forward to seeing more of the game, which can be tried for free on Tabletopia!

• Worldbreakers: Advent of the Khanate (BGG, website, Tabletopia)
• How to play video (YouTube)
• Solo playthrough (YouTube)
• Mailing List (website)

This week Julius tells us about the Plaid Hat Games game, Forgotten Waters.  This is a family friendly piratical adventure on the high seas.

• Forgotten Waters (BGG, Plaid Hat Games)

Today Julius and I bring back a classic game to the table.  We are looking at the 2013 Solo PnP Design Contest game, Maquis by Jake Staines.  The second edition of this game was just published so we look at it again.  The published version is quite a nice package and very well worth looking into.

• Maquis (BGG, Side Room Games)
• Maquis New Content for first edition (Side Room Games)

Julius and I talk about the RPG Ironsworn, designed by Shawn Tomkin.  The game is a full fledged RPG that can be played solo or co-operatively and can work equally well either way.  It's set in a fantasy world that you define.  It's quite a good game... and really an excellent RPG all around.  It's available for free to download or you can purchase physical copies of the book.  If the fantasy setting isn't your thing, you can check out the upcoming Starforged game based on the same system.

Also, I joined the guys at the More Games Than Time to help celebrate their 1 year anniversary.  Check out the episode, linked below.

• Ironsworn (RPGGeek, website, DriveThruRPG)
• Starforged (RPGGeek, website, late pledge)
• More Games Than Time (episode 13)

This week Julius and I discuss the no longer latest campaign for the Arkham Horror card game.  I am writing of Innsmouth Conspiracy.  In this campaign, you get to explore Innsmouth and environs and have all sorts of interesting adventures.  This is part 1 of 2 episodes.  In this part, we cover the first four campaigns.  Just a note, but part 2 will not be the next.. give it a bit of time :)

Come listen.. we are labelling this a spoiler episode as it will give away some of the story and a small bit of strategy.  However, it's a very small bit of strategy.  Based on what I learned from Julius, I doubt I will have more success the next time I play.

• Arkham Horror: LCG (BGG, FFG)
• Innsmouth Conspiracy (BGG, FGG)
• In To Deep (BGG, FFG)
• Devil Reef (BGG, FFG)
• LotR: Murder at the Prancing Pony (BGG, FGG)

This week, I teach Julius about Fire of Eidolon from Magic Meeple Games and designed by Michael Lipton.  It's a fun little Pandemic style game in which you expand the dudgeon as you explore it and then watch it crumble away as you race to collect the Fire of Eidolon and get out before becoming trapped forever.

I really like this game with all the variability in set-up and options.  Julius is less impressed and says he'd rather play Forbidden Island.

• Fire of Eidolong (BGG, Magic Meeple)
• Forbidden Island (BGG)

Hi folks!  Another chat with a solo content creator. This time, it's with Jon, the host of the Tale of the Manticore podcast.  This show is a hybrid solo RPG playthrough/ dark fiction podcast. The podcast is a serial story in which "the dice determine" the fate of the characters.  A story is being told and crafted by playing a solo game of Dungeons and Dragons.

Jon does an amazing job of producing a high quality show.  This is an excellent example of what can be accomplished by playing an RPG solo.  It's done without an emulator and Jon takes the role of both character and DM, though primarily DM.  It's an excellent show worth listening to and easy to binge and catch up!

• Tale of the Manticore (website)
• One Shot in the Dark (Drive Thru RPG)

This week Julius and I talk to Jason Tagmire of Button Shy games.  We talk about small games, design contests and the upcoming game ROVE.  It's going to be released on the Button Shy website on Black Friday.  Check it out, it's a neat little spatial puzzle of a game.

• ROVE (BGG, Button Shy)
• Button Shy Games (website, Discord, Patreon)
• The Button Shop (website)

This week Julius and I talk about the game Cascadia, the game of the Pacific Northwest, designed by Randy Flynn and published by Flatout Games.  This is a tile laying game in which you are placing tiles with a mix environments and populating them with a variety of animals to try and maximize your score.  It's pretty abstract but it's pretty fun and you can try the solo game on-line to see what you think.  I can say, we like it.

This episode features my Golden Retriever, Kaylee, barking in the background throughout the episode.  I removed a lot of the barks but there is only so much I could do.  Later on, she got into the room I was recording in and started eating the catfood out of the bowl.  I hope all that noise is not too distracting!

• Cascadia (BGG, Flatout Games, online solo game)

It's back to the table for us with Pandemic: The Cure.  This is the classic game of world saving, dice chucking fun.  The game is a dice version of the now classic Pandemic.  Julius and I revisit the game and see how it holds up.

• Pandemic: The Cure (BGG, Z-Man)

This week I talk about Storm Above the Reich, a GMT game designed by Mark Aasted & Jeremy White.  This is a WWII game in which you simulate the German air defense against American bombers.  You control a group of fighters that try to engage and bring down the American bombers.  The game is a stand-alone sequal to Skies Above the Reich and can be integrated with it to get a much longer campaign game.  I quite enjoyed the game and hope the podcast does a fair job of giving you a sense of what it's like.

Shame on me for also forgetting to mention that GMT currently has Skies Above Britain on their P500.  This is the British equivalent of the game.

Finally, I had my Covid booster yesterday and just feel worn out today.  If I did a poor job of editing this week, well, more poor than normal, then blame that.

• Storm Above the Reich (BGG, GMT)

Not really discuss but also check these out.

• Skies Above the Reich (BGG, GMT)
• Skies Above Britain (BGG, GMT)

This week, Julius talks about Solenia.  In this game, you ply the winds of a tiny planet trading for goods and stuff on a giant yellow airship.

• Solenia (BGG)

This week I return to interviewing other solo podcast hosts.  This time around, it's Steve Morrison of Errant Adventures.  The podcast features playthroughs of solo games.  Each game spans multiple episodes and after over 40 weekly episodes he's still on his third game.  We have a long rambling discussion centered around solo roleplaying as well as his podcast.  I hope you enjoy!

• Errant Adventures (Internet)
• Tale of the Manticore (Blogspot)
• The Bad Spot (YouTube)
• Arcane Flora/Strrrbuck (Arcane Flora, twitter)
• Red Markets RPG (RPGG, internet)

This week Julius and I delve into the realm of point and click video games... sort of.  We are talking about a point and click board game, or more precisely, book game.  Cantaloop: Breaking Into Prison is an analog game that plays, looks and feels like a classic point and click adventure, think The Secret of Monkey Island or Grim Fandango from Lucas Arts.  Just, there is no clicking in this game as it's all based on a book.

• Cantaloop (BGG, Lookout Games)
• Point and Click adventures (GameRant)
• Grim Fandango (VGG, internet)
• Loom (VGG)
• The Secret of Monkey Island (VGG)
• How to say Friedemann Findeisen (YouTube)

This week I teach Julius about the game Coldwater Crown.  This is a game in which you are competing in a fishing tournament to get the most trophy points.  Like a modern dance competition, there are trophies available for just about anything you do.  Come hear what someone that doesn't like fishing think about this game.

• Coldwater Crown (BGG, Bellwether Games)

This week, Julius and family talk about the game Twinkle.  This is a dice game were you are trying to make constellations.   Keep in mind, stuff doing with space and stars is often very mathy.  This game seems to be no exception... huzzah! 

• Twinkle (BGG, V Games)

This week Julius tells us about the game Red Rising, published by Stonemaier Games.  This game is based on the novel series by the same name by Pierce Brown and let's you play the role of house attempting to rise in power.  This is a pretty abstract card game that is really a rummy game at heart.  Enjoy!

• Red Rising game (BGG, Stonemaier Games)
• Red Rising series (Pierce Brown)

This week Julius and I talk more about games that aren't games.  I bought two new Mazescape mazes, published by Devir games.  These are fun little mazes that required folding and unfolding the page in different ways to be able to solve the maze.  Julius and I also briefly talk about two other games that are both very similar, Friedemann Friese's Folders mazes and Monument Valley.

Folders is basically the same idea as Mazescape but a bit simpler in that you are just trying to find the exist.  Monument Valley is a very successful video game with a similar idea of travelling through a shifting maze.

• Mazescape Ariadne (BGG)
• Mazescape Labyrinthos (BGG)
• Friedemann Friese's Folders (BGG Store)
• Monument Valley (Official website)

This week Julius talks with Joe Slack, designer of Relics of Rajavihadra.  This is a puzzle game, think Think Fun's Rush Hour or River Crossing.  These are fun spatial puzzles include large pieces to play with, grab in your hand and move about.  I really enjoy these kinds of games, or puzzles, as you prefer.  This one sounds pretty cool!

• Relics of Rajavihara (BGG, Crazy Like a Box)

This week I tell Julius about the bag building, worker placement game Groves.  It's an interesting little game with just fantastic art by an independent publisher, Letiman Games.  Check it out.  There's stuff to like and stuff not to like about this game.  Oh drat, I just realized this is out of print.

• Groves (BGG, Letiman Games)

This week Julius and I talk about the dice game OctoDice.  This is a small roll-n-write set in the AquaSphere universe.  AquaSphere is a game by designer Stephan Feld, who is known for making point salad games.  Just about everything you do, you get points.  This game, by Christoph Toussaint is also a point salad game.  It's light and fun for me, but Julius finds it much less satisfying.  Find out why!

• OctoDice (BGG)
• AquaSphere (BGG)

This episode is a revisit to the zombie avoiding game Raxxon.  This game was originally published by Plaid Hat games and is now owned by the large corporate Asmodee.  In this prequal to Dead of Winter, a large corporation has been turning people into zombies.  Your goal is to get as many all healthy people out of the city as the zombie population grows.  Fortunately it's a small city with only 30 healthy people and 30 zombies.

This is an interesting game of manipulating cards on a tableau to remove the healthy characters.  The act of doing this means that over time you have more unhealthy cards in the tableau and that just makes the game harder and harder.  It's interesting and it's really hard (for me) but if played well (like Julius) you can actually win!

Anyway, check out this older game.  It's worth revisiting.

• Raxxon (BGG, FFG)
• Raxxon fan made scenarios (joepinion)

This episode Julius and I talk Gloomhaven.  Julius has the big giant original game and I have the baby brother Jaws of the Lion.  We talk about the two game and compare them a bit.  Check out what we think in this longer than normal esisode.  Then go listen to the latest episode of Meeple, Myself and I to hear what Jason, an unabashed Gloomhaven lover things about the two games.

• Gloomhaven (BGG)
• Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion (BGG)
• Meeple, Myself and I (podcast)

This week Julius teaches us about Underwater Cities.  Listen carefully though.. this game is overflowing with ocean puns.  Actually, Julius tossed in more puns than I had realized until I started editing.  I can't fathom how he comes up with them, but regardless, the game itself is really interesting.

This week's episode gets us outside, figuratively, when Julius tells us about a Kickstarter game he received recently.  This is the very pretty looking Blume.

• Blume (BGG)

This week Julius and I talk about Noctiluca.  It's a neat little-ish game about bio-luminescent single-celled organisms.  I argued they are plankton and Julius called them jellyfish.  I won the argument during the show but apparently in scientific circles the verdict is still out.  Anyway, we all know, Noctiluca are really dice!

Make sure to check out the video linked below.. it's quite amazing.

• Noctiluca (BGG, Wikipedia, Youtube)

This week Julius tells us about a Scooby-Doo themed escape room game. I tend to be uninterested in film & tv tie-ins, but this one sounds pretty cool!

WARNING: THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS ONE.  STOP LISTENING AT 24:45 TO AVOID THE SPOILERS.

• Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion (BGG)

Hot off the heels of the anniversary shows, Julius and I take a look at an older game. The game is Flash Point: Fire Rescue and it has a half dozen or so expansions.  Julius has played this a lot and I've dabbled in it every once in a while.  Listen in and see how we feel about these expansions.

• Flash Point: Fire Rescue (BGG)
  • Fire Academy Challenge (BGG)
  • Urban Structures (BGG)
  • 2nd Story (BGG)
  • Veteran and Rescue Dog (BGG)
  • Extreme Danger (BGG)
  • Dangerous Waters (BGG)
  • Honor & Duty (BGG)
  • Tragic Events (BGG)

Well, this is it.  This is the final episode in the solo podcasting series we've been doing.  This time around we have three more interesting and, again, very unique shows.  This episode runs a bit long but I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

• 01:52 - Once Upon a Die (Podcast, BGG guild)
• 26:30 - 1 Stop Co-op (Podcast)
• 43:58 - More Games Than Time (Podcast, Forums, BGG podcast page, Improvised Radio Theatre with Dice podcast)

The featured games

• Bullet (BGG)
• Paleo (pay-lee-oh) (BGG)
• Machina Arcana (BGG)
• Leaving Earth (BGG)

The anniversary party continues!  This week Julius and I split up to talk to two more solo gaming podcasts.  I am personally enjoying these a lot and really just REALLY LOVE the variety each of the shows brings. They each have their own charm and are really worth checking out.

• 01:21 - Solo BG (Spotify, RSS, Podcast en Español, RSS en Español, Facebook)
• 24:17 - Solosaurus (Podcast)

Games mentioned

• Nemesis
• Cthulhu Death May Die
• Tainted Grail
• Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps
• Newton

This week is the 10th anniversary of the 1 Player Podcast!  Wow, huh!?  When the show started there wasn't much talk of solo gaming in the podcast world, with at least the notable exception of the EXCELLENT Print and Play podcast which was hosted by FNH1.  it wasn't specifically solitaire, but quite often featured solo games.  Well in 10 years things have changed and we are lucky to have quite a variety of solo gaming shows to enjoy.  We are bringing on as many of the solo gaming podcasts as we can to give you a taste of what's out there.  You will see as you listen to the discussions that they are all interesting and quite different.  There is a lot more than we can fit into a single episode so this discussion will go over the next few weeks!

• 04:14 - Meeple, Myself and I (podcast, review geeklist)
• 18:11 - Stop Somewhere (podcast, Instagram)
• 29:57 - Always Player One (podcast, Facebook)

Some of the mentioned games

• Cartographers (BGG)
• Helionox: The Last Sunset (BGG)
• Ironsworn RPG (RPG Geek)
• The Coin Tribes' Revolt (BGG)
• Rollway Stations (BGG)

This very special announcement is here just to tell you there is no show this week. Tune back in next week!

It's back to the table with Friday!  I hadn't played this game in six years.  Julius and I took the time to re-visit this solo classic.

Someone's stolen the MacGuffin!  What do we do?  You've got five minutes to study the crime scene and find clues to lead you to the culprit.  This is a real-time family game that can be played solo and it sounds pretty fun.

This week Julius and go to the mall! More like we go to a magical mall and get lost.  We are talking about Magic Maze, the real-time mall crawling fantasy game.  If the theme makes no sense, that's okay.  This is a fast playing game for 1 to something like 6 players.  Instead of controlling a character, you control individual actions for all the characters.  It's a neat concept that works great for multiplayer...

• Magic Maze (BGG)

This week and maybe for the first time, we talk about an expansion to a game.  That's right... can you believe it?  We've already talked about Nations: the Dice Game twice before, not to mention Nations and an interview with Rustan Hakansson, so you know we like it.  Well, here's what we think about the expansion.

• Nations: The Dice Game - Unrest (BGG)
• Nations: The Dice Game (BGG)
• Nattions (BGG)

This week I have a discussion with Jason Carr of GMT Games.  He's now managing GMT One, their new internal development studio for solitaire gaming.  GMT Games has supported solo gaming for a very long time.  With GMT One, they are now creating a team of developers concentrated on helping GMT designers add solitaire play to their games.

Enjoy the discussion!

• GMT Games
• SpaceCorp (BGG, GMT Games)
• 1759: The Siege of Quebec (BGG, Worthington Games)
• Caesar: Rome vs Gaul (BGG, GMT Games)
• Red Flag Over Paris (BGG, GMT Games)
• GMT's Monthly newsletter with mentions of GMT One (2021 January, 2021 February, 2021 March)
• Inside GMT One blog posts (Inside GMT)

This week Julius tells us about the game Horrified.  If you like the classic movie monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster & the Bride of Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, the Werewolf and the Creater from the Black Lagoon) then you may just like this game.  This is a co-op game by Prospero Hall and published by Ravensburger that is reminiscent of Pandemic.

• Horrified (BGG, Ravensburger)

This week Julius is out of town.  Instead, I have a conversation with José Ruiz, a.k.a. Stuka Joe.  Stuka Joe has a YouTube channel with many, many playthrough videos of wargames. It you are interested in wargames it's worth checking out his solo playthroughs of multiplayer and solo games.

He's also the designer of the CDG Solo System which allows a person to play Card Drive Games solo by helping you manage the fog of war created by having a hand of cards.  Don't be confused like I was.  You will still be playing both sides, like playing Monopoly against yourself.  The CDG Solo System helps you manage the cards in a way that will still give you interesting choices and a fog of war.

The solo system is available as a PnP, but GMT is also going to produce a professionally printed edition via their P500, including tweak sheets for some of their CDG games, with more tweak sheets to come.  Not only that, as it is a community driven product, they will be offering their edition as a PnP, including the rules, playsheets and all the files you'll need, with very minimal printing.

I really enjoyed talking to Jose.  Listen in and see if this is something for you.  Even if you aren't a wargamer, this system is something you can probably use in many card driven games.

• CDG Solo System print and play edition (BGG)
• CDG Solo System (GMT Games)
• CDG Solo System playthrough video (BGG)
• Stuka Joe's video channel (YouTube)

Welcome to the 200th episode of the 1 Player Podcast.  Today, Julius and I talk about the game Canvas.  This is a really nice looking game about combining components of art into a single cohesive work of great beauty and lotsa points.  This game uses transparent plastic cards to achieve the goal and unlock your creative point-ential 🙄.  Unfortunately, it is currently unavailable... aaah!

• Canvas (BGG, Road To Infamy)

Episode 199 is about a sneaky little PnP game not found on BGG.. not exactly anyway.  This is a legacy version of the game Ada Lovelace: Consulting Mathematician (which is on BGG).  Julius found out about this game and goes through the legacy experience.  Note, there is every the slightest spoiler in this, but this game doesn't have a lot to spoil.  Check it out.. it sounds interesting!

• Ada Lovelace: Legacy of the Analytical Engine (Designer's site, payhip, itchio)
• Ada Lovelace: Consulting Mathematician (BGG)

In this episode, my voice can actually be heard as Julius and I talk about the roll-and-write game, Railroad Ink.  this is a cute little dice-chucking (for one person) dry erase drawing game of railroad empires.  Hop aboard and listen!  🙄

• Railroad Ink: Deep Blue (BGG, Horrible Guild)
• Railroad Ink: Blazing Red (BGG, Horrible Guild)
• The entire Railroad Ink family (BGG, Horrible Guild)

Welcome back to another episode.  This time around, Julius interviews Gabe Barrett, designer of the Hunted Series of games and host of the Board Game Design Lab.

• Hunted: Kobayashi Tower (BGG, BestWIth1)
• Hunted: Mining Colony 415 (BGG, BestWith1)
• Hunted: Wode Ridge (BGG, KS)
• Hunted: Santa's Workshop pnp (BestWith1)
• Board Game Design Lab (BGDL)

Today Julius and I talk about a pretty darned new game, The Lost Ruins of Arnak.  You are an archeologist exploring what you are pretty sure is the fabled island of Arnak.  At least, that's what you think the uncharted isle you found is.  You will explore the island and uncover ruins, still guarded by mythical beasts and study the resources you find to help you uncover hidden secrets and most especially... victory points!  Listen in and see what I think of this game.

• Lost Ruins of Arnark (BGG, CGE)

Julius and I revisit a classic!  We talk about Nations: The Dice Game again.  A game we first covered back in 2015 on episode 85.  This is a great dice game with lots of luck and strategy and a really good, really simple solo variant in the box.  Come see (hear) what we think about it.  Are we still playing it?  Some more than others.

• Nations: The Dice Game (BGG)
• Episode 85 (1 Player Podcast)

Today Julius and I spend some time talking about the pretty darned new solo game Under Falling Skies published by Czech Games Edition and designed by Tomáš Uhlíř.  In this game you are defending earth from a line of invading aliens as they drop closer and closer to your bases one row at a time.  My gosh... in the episode I compared it to Missle Command but's more of a Space Invaders isn't it?  Whoops.  Anyway, it's a neat game with a ton of options!

Oh wow!  I only just realized this was originally a 9 card PnP game!  How cool is that!?

• Under Falling Skies (BGG)

This week Julius and I discuss solo gaming and controlling more than one player while playing solo.  This refers to playing multiple characters in a co-op, such as Pandemic but also playing opposing sides in a multiplayer game.  There is so much more we could have said but we kept it short at just 35-ish minutes!  We mentioned a bunch of games.  I'll have to be honest though.  I didn't think to write them down so I will list the ones I remembered.

• Pandemic (BGG)
• Pandemic: Iberia (BGG)
• Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu (BGG)
• Pandemic: The Cure (BGG)
• Pandemic: Rapid Response (BGG)

you seeing a thread here?

• Flash Point: Fire Rescue (BGG)
• Elder Sign (BGG)
• Arkham Horror: The Card Game (BGG)
• Proving Grounds (BGG)
• Flatline (BGG)
• Fuse (BGG)
• Sentinels of the Multiverse (BGG)
• Men of Iron (BGG)
• Combat Commander (BGG)

This isn't podcast about dealing with upkeep when playing M:TG.  This episode is about the family game Upkeep in which your goal is to upkeep your yard by raking all the leaves.  It's a light family game that can be played cooperatively or solo.

• Upkeep (BGG)

Another special episode.  I welcome back Lee Broderick, designer of Maeshowe, the grim game of escaping an ancient cairn after accidentally falling through the roof.  The game is based on a historical event as chronicled in the Orkneyinga Saga.

Lee tells us all about the history of Maeshowe and then we discuss the game.  Oh, it's currently on Kickstarter!  Check it out.

• Meashowe (BGG, KS)
• Dwarf (BGG)
• Hallertau (BGG)
• Nusfjord Salmon Deck (BGG)
• More Games Than Time (website, RSS)

This week Julius teaches us about the dungeon crawler, Dungeon Alliance.  It sounds like quite a fun puzzle of a game.. think Mage Knight but in half the time and in a dungeon!

• Dungeon Alliance (BGG)

In this episode, Julius and I discuss the solo bag-building game Warp's Edge from Renegade Game Studio and designed by Mr. Scott Almes.  This is an excellent game with some, um, interesting production choices.  Listen in and get the details.

• Warp's Edge (BGG, Renegade Games)
• Warp's Edge: Viren Invasion (BGG, Renegade Games)

Buckle up folks for this long mindtrip of a show.  Julius teaches about the game Cerebria.  It's a great looking game with some nice artwork.  Definitely worth looking into it.

• Cerebria (BGG)

In this excellentest of holiday episodes Travis Hill joins us to talk about journaling RPGs, including a few of his design.  Come enjoy a chat with one of the hosts of the former Lower Player Count podcast.

• Presspot Games (itch.io, Gumroad.com)
• Delve map-making RPG (Kickstarter complete)

In this episode, Julius and I discuss what matters more, theme or mechanic.  Come along and listen to our rambling thoughts.

A very light wargame set in an alternate timelean Pocket Landships is.  Sorry, Yodaspeak but this is a neat dice chucking game of fighting steam powered mecha with a big ol' diesel tank.  Fun it is so check out the review.

• Pocket Landships (BGG)
• Pocket Landships free trial version (BGG)

This week we finally talk about Aerion, the sixth game so far in the Oniverse series.  Shady originally said the hope was to make seven games total so hopefully there is still one more to go. Then they can go back and re-publish Urbion/Equilibrion that hasn't yet been made in the larger box size.

Anyway, Aerion is a dice game similar but not at all like Yahtzee!

• Aerion (BGG, Z-Man)

In this episode Julius and I get Suburbia back to the table.  This game was first covered by Julius way back in episode 95.  That was way back in January of 2016.. wow!  Well, I have now finally played the game though I've had a copy sitting around for a couple of years.  Find out what we think about the game and how it's held up for Julius over the years.

Before we do that though, I am going to super-quickly talk about another 18 card microgame, Scott Alme's Food Chain Island.

• Food Chain Island (BGG)
• Suburbia (BGG)

Julius and I spend some time taking a tour of the world of the 18 Card Microgame.  This neat little sub-genre is full of all sorts of neat little games.  These games are usually quick playing and often very creative.

• (10:10) Sprawlopolis (BGG, Button Shy)
• (15:00) Banned Books (BGG, Button Shy)
• (17:38) Ragemore (BGG, Button Shy)
• (19:39) Pentaquark (BGG, Button Shy)
• (24:18) Twins Stars I (BGG, Button Shy) & Twin Stars II (BGG, Button Shy)
• (26:40) SpaceShipped (BGG, Button Shy)
• (29:30) King's Gambit (BGG, Gamecrafter)

I went looking for references to 18 card microgrames for solo play but didn't find anything specific.  Time to go make a geeklist...

Solo Playable 18 Card Microgames

Episode 181!  This time we talk about Proofing Grounds... the game of editorial combat.  I wish... that would be cool!  This is Proving Grounds.. the game of gladiatorial combat!  This is a game designed for exactly 1 player.  Julius give us a detailed run-down and the game sure sounds interesting!

We are finally talking about this game that has been.  It's been out for like 5 years waiting, just waiting for me to play and talk about it.  Julius finally pushed me to do it and I've had a great time with it.  Come here what we think about this game.  I'll give you a spoiler.. it's fun but hard.  Wait, did I just give it away?

Oh My Goods! (BGG, Lookout Games)

Oh My Goods! Longsdale in Revolt (BGG, Lookout Games)

Oh My Goods! Escape to Canyon Brook (BGG, Lookout Games)

Tybor the Builder (BGG, Lookout Games)

Expedition to Newdale (BGG, Lookout Games)

Another Roll Player Tale game from Thunderworks Games.  Julius seems to be a big fan of the Roll Player universe so we talk about yet another game in the series.  I think we've got them all.  Unfortuantely, this means we may not hear my cool song again any time soon :)

Anyway, Lockup is an area control game with a cool mechanism in the multiplayer game.  Thunderworks found a way to make it work well solo too!

• Lockup: A Roll Player Tale (BGG, Thunderworks)

In today's episode, we ae joined by KarenSDR from the 1 Player Guild to discuss solo trick-taking games!  You'll be surprised just how many trick-taking games can be soloed.  Then we look at one specific trick-taking game, Eck, which is currently part of the 2020 Solitaire Print and Play design contest!

• Eck (BGG, Contest thread)
• Solo trick-taking games geeklist (BGG)
• 2020 Print and Play Design Contest (BGG)

Julius and I are between a rock and a hard place on this one.  Between Two Cities is a Stonemaier Games game about building a city while working with your opponents or against two Automa.  It's a neat little tile laying game.

• Between Two Cities (BGG, Publisher)

Today Julius and I talk about the classic game of SET..  this one is from '88 so yeah, it's pretty much a classic.  It's a light family game that can be played with any number of folks that you can fit around a table, be it one or one thousand, though that's a big table and you'll probably need a really big edition.  It's a simple game of collecting sets of cards with patterns that match on all three cards or are different in all three cards - simple and fun!

• SET (BGG, Publisher)
• Official daily on-line puzzle
• Set Mania solo game (Android, IOS)
• Set Pro HD multiplayer (IOS)

In this episode Julius and I sorta talk about the 1 Player Guild and what it can offer the solo gamer these days.  This show is sorta about nothing. Learn what to guys can do when the show up un-prepared... not much.

• 1 Player Guild
• Solo Challenges
• Collective Acquisition Disorder geeklists
• Solitaire Games on Your Table geeklists
• SGoYT Aggregator
• Top 200 solo games
• Morten's No Prize for Top 200 games
• Chain of Generosity
• Trade it Forward
• 2020 Challenge Coin
• Solitaire Print and Play contest
• Solo variants
  • Carcassone
  • Pandemic - not solo specific but a COVID-19 variant from GMT
  • Civilization
• Facebook solo group

In this episode Julius and I discuss the game Team Pandemic.  Also known as Pandemic: Rapid Response.  This is a hectic timed game in which players are producing plastic cubes to deliver to cities around the world.  Each city has different needs as to what color cubes will solve their crisis so players are working at a hectic pace to produce the correct cubes while they fly around the world.

• Pandemic: Rapid Response (BGG, Publisher)
• Timer song to use with the game (BGG)

In this episode Julius and I look what it takes to grow a village.  Turns out isn't that hard and can be done on your own.  The game Villagers is a fun drafting game from Sinister Fish games for 1-5 players.

• Villagers (BGG, SInister Fish)
• Streets by Sinister Fish (Kickstarter)

In this episode I talk about Thousand Year Old Vampire, the self published game by Tim Hutchings.  This very cool solo RPG won three Ennie awards this year!  In it you play vampire struggling with the passage of time and how we remember things.  It's an excellent game worth checking out, not just because of the unique gameplay, but also because of the excellent production quality.  I quite like it.

Thousand Year Old Vampire (RPG Geek, designer's page)

In this spoiler-ific episode, Julius tells us all about the Dreamlands half of the Dream-Eaters campaign for Arkham Horror.  It sounds interesting, but not as much as the other half.

• Arkham-Horror: The Dream-Eaters (FFG)

Welcome to another episode! This time around, Albert interviews Dennis Furia, the designer of Deck of Wonders, which is on Kickstarter right now.

This game has a nice M:TG feel to it in that you are fighting a battle against an enemy by summoning minions to fight for you.  However, what is really cool here is that this game is designed for solo play and does a very good job of giving you an interesting game experience.

It's on KS right now and worth looking into.

• Deck of Wonders (BGG, Publisher, Kickstarter)
• Tabletop Simulator demo instructions

In the latest episode Albert & Julius discuss the White Dog Games title, Nubia: Egypt's Black Heirs.  This is a States of Siege style game designed by R Ben Madison and quite fun.

Nubia on BGG

Nubia at White Dog Games

In this episode Julius talks about the latest completed Arkham Horror Cycle, the Dream-Eaters (whose name I have trouble getting straight).  This cool campaign takes players to Lovecraft's Dreamlands, though Julius and I will focus our discussion on the waking world, for now and visit the Dreamlands in an upcoming show.

a.k.a., how to play with distractions.  Distractions are annoying regardless the number of players.  It's only really a problem though with solo gaming.  What do you do when your kids or your cat show up?  You panic!

My Lord of the Rings box at YouTube.

In this episode we discuss the draw and write game Cartographers.  A Roll Player game without any rolling!  It does have some fun map-making though.

• Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale (publisher, BGG)

In this 2nd and final episode of the Summer of Uwe, we look at the 2 player game Caverna 2: Cave vs. Cave which includes solitaire rules.  In this cool little worker placement game, you get to build an empire for your clan of dwarves, all in about 30 minutes!

But wait, there's more!  We then talk about the expansion which let's you play for another quick 30 minutes!

In this latest episode, the 1st episode in the "Summer of Uwe", we discuss the Puzzle Trilogy game Spring Meadow. It's a light polyomino laying game in which you are trying to maximize your score while hiking in a meadow and defrosting the ground.

In this episode, probably for the first time ever, we don't review a game - gosh!  Instead, we talk about game art and art in games.  It's a fun conversation and I for one enjoyed it.  However, we do briefly, oh so briefly, talk about solo RPG products.

• 1000 Year Old Vampire (RPG Geek, Publisher)
• Our Innermost Thoughts (KS) by Travis Hill

Rwarrrrr!  In this episode we talk about dinosaur parks in South America.  More specifically, we talk about the game Dinogenics were you can run your own park!

* Dinogenics (BGG, publisher)

In our latest episode, we look at the solo journaling RPG Alone Among the Stars.  It's a neat little game were you write super-short journal entries about your journey through space as you visit planets and see strange new sites.

I posted my session as a blog entry here.

• Alone Among the Stars on itch.io
• itch.io tags
  • solo-rpg
  • singleplayer
  • journaling
• Kickstarter Zine-quest games

In this episode we talk all about cats.  Well, all about the cats of Isle of Cats, a very fun tile laying game by Frank West and published by The City of Games.

• Isle of Cats (Publisher, BGG)
• Isle of Cats (remote edition)
• Online version of game

Wow another podcast!  That's right.. episode 159 is here and this time we talk about the game Fire!  It's a short show for a short shoot-em up based old old video games like Space Invaders.  In fact it looks a whole lot like Space Invaders. Pew! Pew! Pew!

Fire! on BGG

In this episode, Albert & Julius discuss the lovely little legacy game, Charterstone.  Pretty much that's it.

NOTE: THIS EPISODE IS FULL OF SPOILERS!!

Wow another episode in the same year!  We are on a role.  This time around, Albert interviews Lee Broderick, designer of Dwarf, now on Kickstarter.  We have a fun chat about Uwe Rosenberg games and get into a lot of the details about dwarfs (or dwarves).  We get into dwarven details. :)

• Dwarf (BGG, KS)

Wow, it's been a while, huh?  Life is busy lately and there just isn't much time to game, not even solo.  Still, here we are with another episode and this time we cover two games!  Well, both are pretty similar. Actually, both are about the same game with a different setting.

Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure

Clank! In! Space!

Albert spent some time playing Discover: Lands Unknown from FFG.  We get back together to discuss the game.

Welcome to another instalment of the 1 Player Podcast.  In this episode we look at the official solo variant for Five Tribes.  This is a fantastic game published by Days of Wonder

• News
  • (02:37) Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small (bgg)
  • (03:40) Groves (bgg)
  • (04:34) Nightfighter Ace (bgg, compass games)
  • (05:44) Gorbachev: The Fall of Communism (bgg, wdg)
  • (07:09) Arkham Horror: 3rd edition (bgg, ffg)
  • (09:13) Yggdrassil (bgg)
  • (11:11) Automa Article (bgg)
• (13:08) Five Tribes (bgg, solo rules)

In this episode we look at the game New Bedford, published by Greater Than Games.

Another episode another game!  This time we talk some brief news including Albert's new fountain pen podcast and the new Snowdownia Kickstarter.  Then we take a deep look at Four Against Darkness, the solo RPG dungeon crawl in which you take for intrepid adventures in a quest for fame and fortune.

• Pens on the Go (podbean)
• Snowdonia (BGG, KS)
• Four Against Darkness (BGG, Amazon, DriveThruRPG)

Julius and Albert travel through time to review Anachrony, from Mindclash games. Let's admit,Julius spends a lot of time talking about the solo mode for this one, so tune in and travel.

Extended show notes:

• Banter and geenral discussion
• Review of Anachrony (06:04)

In this 150th episode Albert & Julius discuss Nusfjord.

• 01:26  Unlock (Asmodee, BGG)
• 05:22  Heroes of Terinoth (FFG, BGG)
• 09:36  The Deep Gate: Arkham Horror novel (FFG)
• 11:56  Dragonfire (BGG)
• 13:10  Asmodee
• 16:46  Nusfjord (BGG)

Do you like Arkham Horror the card game? Do you continue to purchase the new expansions as they come out? Well, Julius does. Albert doesn't, so we are leaving him behind as Julius and guest co-host Tyler Moore review over the entire Path to Carcosa cycle for Arkham Horror the card game. Join us for a full review of each scenario across the cycle.

Welcome to episode #148 of the 1 Player Podcast.  This month, Albert and Julius talk about the game, Terraforming Mars.  See what we like and what we don't like about this game from Stronghold Games.

Journey into the depths of the libraries of the 1 Player Podcast. Join us on the couch as we chat about some of our favorite books of late, including the "Traps Hidden Books" and "You Don't Want to Know."
We also talk about Victory Point Games' recent kickstarter for their Graphic Novel Adventures, and about Gem Rush. We then review Ex Libris, a library building worker-placement game. We then return for an extended interview with Taran Kratz, the designer of Helionox (by listener request).
So pull up a nice book, your favorite podcast feed, and listen in.

Graphic Novel Adventures (01:45)
Gem Rush (10:07)
Ex Libris review (14:15)
Taran Kratz, designer of Helionox, interview (51:45)

After chatting about some recent games they've played, Albert and Julius review two Pandemic games today, Pandemic Reign of Cthulhu and Pandmic Iberia. Afterwards, Julius talks with the designer of Unbroken, currently on Kickstarter.

• General Discussion:
  • Stuffed Fables and the Every Night is Game Night Podcast (01:55)
  • CoOp Cast (05:55)
  • Ex Libris, Architects of the West Kingdom, by Renegade Games (6:40)
• Reviews:
  • Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu (10:38)
  • Pandemic Iberia (24:38)
• Unbroken interview (35:20)

Hi folks, in this episode Julius and Albert go over some news and a rant or two, then we talk about the "Big In Japan" game from AEG, Unicornus Knights.

• 01:17 News (Portal Games)
• 01:34   Detective: A Modern Crime Boardgame (BGG)
• 02:32   Imperial Settlers: Amazons (BGG)
• 03:29   Imperial Settlers: We Didn't Start the Fire (BGG)
• 04:03   Robinson Crusoe: Mystery Tales (BGG)
• 06:06 Rant! Flash Point
• 12:00 Kickstarter
• 12:11   Rant: The Reckoners (BGG, KS)
• 16:05   Edge of Darkness (BGG, KS)
• 18:54   Nights of Fire: Battle For Budapest (BGG, KS)
• 22;20   Space Park (BGG, KS)
• 24:02 Unicornus Knights (BGG)

Albert and Julius have a packed episode today. Not only do we announce the winners of the Lords of the Rings contest, but we also have an extended interview with AJ Porfirio about upcoming Van Ryder Games titles, including the Big Score, graphic novel adventures, and the Hostage Negotiator campaign. Then we review and discuss Flee, the innovated rules-less small box game from Friedemann Friese.

Extended show notes:

• Contest winners (01:54)
• Interview with AJ Porfirio (04:21)
• Review of Flee (60:15)

In episode #143 we look at the new game for Creativity Hub, now known as Hub Games.  The game is Untold: Adventures Await.  This is a cooperative storytelling game that uses Rory's Story Cubes and is really a light RPG in disguise.  We also have a small segment interviewing Rory O'Conner of Rory's Story Cubes fame. For the rest of the really interesting cube, head on over to the Every Night is Game Night podcast (episode #71)!

News

  02:50 Forbidden Sky (BGG)

  05:00 The Big Score (correction) (BGG)

  05:24 Rambo (BGG, KS)

  09:46 Contest

  10:21  StuffedFables (BGG)

  12:50 1 Player Guild user poll (BGG)

  14:43 Hostage Negotiator app beta (BGG)

Feature

  15:41 Untold: Adventures Await (BGG)

 Other

  40:00 Solo RPGing (BGG)

  41:16 Rory O'Conner on the Extraordinaires Design Studio (BGG)

After a winter break, the 1 Player Podcast is back to review a big game, Too Many Bones, and a little game, Triplock. Both are published by Chip Theory Games, so the episode is dedicated to discussions of chips (for at least a minute, but we never do decide on a favorite chip). As usual, we chat about a bunch of other games and a bit about general life happenings before getting into the game discussions.

Full show notes:

• Miscellaneous chat:
  • Escape and Flatline (01:54)
  • AD30 (03:52)
  • Charterstone (04:40)
  • Lord of the Rings Giveaway (07:14)
  • Mice and Mystics (10:04)
  • Van Ryder Games release (13:10)
    • The Big Score
    • Gamebooks (14:40)
  • Dresden Files app version (17:05)
• Too Many Bones review (18:32)
• Triplock (52:39)

In this last episode of 2017 we look look back (though don't we always?)  But first we also breifly look forward with the news!  Our main review is a look way back to the 1960s and world wide espionage with Agents of SMERSH by Jason Maxwell and published by 8th Summit Games.

• 02:59 Nations: Dice Game - Unrest (BGG)
• 06:45 Viceroy (BGG)
• 09:43 Imperial Assault companion app (FFG)
• 14:48 Lord of the Rings: LCG (FFG)
• 19:01 1 Player Guild People's Choice Top 100 (BGG)
• 35:07 Agents of S.M.E.R.S.H. (BGG)

Albert and Julius return, after a slight delay due to holidays and technical difficulty. But we're back, and talking about some new news and some old news! And about games! And about pop culture! Could you ask for more?
Join us for a discussion of some kickstarter projects and gaming trends. Then we review two games from our new "Same but different" category: Limes and NMBR 9.

We Must Tell The Emperor (02:18)
Solitaire RPG suggestions (05:04)
D-Day Dice (08:44)
NMBR 9 (18:55)
Limes (37:44)
Similar game recommendations (52:20)

This slightly longer than "normal" episode has a bit of news followed by a long discussion on Hotshots by Fireside Games. We also get into a small discussion on probabilities.

• 02:17 Shopping Geeklist (1 Player Guild Collective Aquisition Disorder) (BGG)
• 04:27 English Eerie (RPG Geek, DriveThruRPG)
• 07:34 Tom Vassel loves Solo
• 12:12 Untold: Adventures Await (BGG)
• 18:32 Dawn of Peacemakers (KS, BGG)
• 31:33 Hotshots (BGG)

Have you considered a career in sound effects creation? Neither did Albert until he played B-17, and now he is fascinated with creating the sound air-based combat simulation sound effects! Amazing!

In this episode, Albert and Julius talk about a bunch of games they've been playing and are highly anticipating playing. Expect to hear more about all of these. Then, Albert presents B-17 Flying Fortress Leader, a strategic bombing game where you control a bomber group.

Extended note:

• Recent plays and anticipated games
  • Too Many Bones (02:15)
  • Arkham Horror: The Card Game - Labyrinth of Lunacy (06:50)
  • Nemo's War (09:24)
  • Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 and Charterstone (14:58)
  • Other anticipated games: Sentinels of the Multiverse and Heroes Wanted (16:28)
  • Correction on automa for Patchwork (18:00)
  • 1 Player Guild Top 100 games (18:50)
  • One Deck Dungeon the app (22:20)
• Thanks to our Patreons! (24:54)
• B-17 Flying Fortress Leader (27:13)

In this episode Albert & Julius talk a bit about a few games and then dig into Mechs vs Minions, a co-op dungeon crawl pubished, by of all things, a video game company.

01:46 - St. Louis Game Design Day

05:38  -  Subatomic (BGG)

06:53  -  Subterranian Cities (BGG)

10:36 - Escape the Room: Mystery at the Stargazer's Manor (BGG)

14:37 - Hostage Negotiator (BGG) around the world (geeklist)

15:43 - Triplock (BGG)

16:32 - Fire of Eidolon (BGG)

17:11 - B-17 Flying Fortress Leader (BGG)

18:11 - Playthrough feedback

22:00 - 1 Player Guild challenge coin

26:35 - Mechs vs Minions (BGG)

A game about farming in the Mediterranean!  This episode has Julius taking a close look at La Granja for solo play.  Then we both play a game of Ancient Empires, currently on Kickstarters.

Kickstarter

• 05:50 - The Networks: Executives (BGG, KS)
• 09:35 - Wander: The Cult of Barnacle Bay (BGG, KS)
• 13:55 - Ancient Artifacts (BGG, KS)

Feature

• 15:20 - La Granja (BGG)

Playthrough

• 50:10 - Ancient Artifacts play through

The end

• 68:45 - Thanks for listenning!

Having survived the great darkening of the sun, Albert and Julius return to delve into the deepest reaches of our oceans. In this episode, after a breif chat of our solar eclipse experiences, Albert and Julius review the solitaire game Nemo's War (second edition). Albert also interviews David Thompson, the designer of Pavlov's House and a number of other designs. Join us as we chat about puppies, boats, and suns.

Show notes:

• Eclipse chat (00:30)
• Okey Dokey (03:28)
• Interview with David Thompson, designer of Pavlov’s House (08:30)
• Nemo’s War (48:58)

Welcome to the Eclipsisode.  In this episode (which actully has nothing to do with an eclipse other than the date)) we review Yggdrasil.  Albert also talks about CRGE, the Conjectural Roleplaying Game Emulator.  As always, we also have a bit of news and whatnot.

• 00:24 - Intro
• 00:39 - Welcome

• Conjecture Games
• 00:54 - CRGE (DriveThruRPG)
• 12:52 - UNE (DriveThruRPG)
• 14:19 - BOLD (DriveThruRPG)
• 15:29 - TOSS (DriveThruRPG)

• News
• 17:12 - Burgle Bros app (Android, IOS)
• 19:43 - Energy Empire solo PnP (BGG)
• 24:38 - 7th Continent (BGG)

• 26:39 - Yggdrasil (BGG, Android, IOS)

Gencon is right around the corner, so Albert and Julius are excited to talk about some of the games they are looking forward to hearing more about. Sadly, although GenCant is happening this year, GenCant SoloCon didn't get arranged for this year. Regardless, Albert and Julius take a brief run through their wishlists from Gencon releases, and talk about a few other games on Kickstarter. After the rush of con games is over, they review Raxxon, the cooperative evacuation card game from PlaidHat Games. As an aside, due to Raxxon's "interesting" distribution model, if you are looking to get your hands on a copy, check the 1 Player Guild forums for a thread with invite codes.

(Also, sorry that Albert's microphone was messing up during recording. It gets better if you skip to later portions.)

Show notes:

• News:
  • Finished (by Friedemann Friese) (01:36)
  • Heroes Wanted expansion (03:35)
  • Flash Point: Fire Rescue expansion (05:33)
• GenCon wishlists (11:49)
• Raxxon review (26:32)

This is a big episode folks!  This time around Julius and Albert invited anybody that wanted to participate to come on the show and chat.  We were joined by BGG user SSGMightyMouse.  We spent a lot of time talking about just about every aspect of new new-ish Arkham Horror LCG.  We also have some news and a discussion of LCG versus "regular" games, in terms of cost.

This is a big big show.

01:45 Escape Room style games

08:20 Publishing solo games for fun or profit

15:25 Founders of Gloomhaven (BGG, KS)

20:55 Star Realms: Frontiers (BGG, KS)

23:25 Quill: Shadow and Ink (RPGG, DriveThruRPG)

27:20 LCG versus traditional games

42:15 Arkham Horror LCG (BGG)

Albert and Julius celebrate July 4 with a rousing discussion of board games. We preview the upcoming game Renegade, chat about the recent release of the Friday app, and a few other board games.

We also announce our upcoming live event: The Big Arkham Chat. On July 16 at 8 pm (central), we will be recording our episode talking about Arkham Horror the card game and a discussion of living card games and subscription games versus standard distribution methods. And we are inviting all listeners to participate as guest co-hosts. If you want to participate by voice, contact us in advance. If you want to participate by text during the live recording, just come to our Discord channel on July 16 at 8 pm (central). Our Discord channel is at: https://discord.gg/Yj2WqFM

Finally, Julius presents our review and discussion of Big Book of Madness, a cooperative deck building game where you play as student wizards attempting to close the aforementioned book without being driven insane. Listen for our full review and let us know your thoughts on the forums and on Discord.

Thanks to all our patrons on Patreon for supporting our podcast. Find us at patreon.com/1playerpodcast.

• Recent games
  • Renegade
  • Sabetuor duel
  • Friday app
  • D12 Solo Rules
  • La Granja
• Live Podcast: Arkham Horror Card Game
• Winner of the 1 Player Guild Game challenge
• Review of Big Book of Madness

Yet another double-header episode.  This time Julius and Albert talk about Nautilion AND Flatline, a sequel to Fuse.  First though, we go over a bit of news, mostly about Morten and Automas.  Then we also talk about KS games.

Finally, Albert and Julius discuss the latest Shadi Torbey game, Nautilion and then Julius teaches Albert Flatline.

• 01:40 - Asmodee in the news, again
• 02:55 - Automas (Scythe: The Wind Gambit, Charterstone, Gaia)
• 06:30 - Automa (Near and Far variant) (BGG)
• 07:55 - Who's Gary: 1 Player Guild Game (BGG)
• Kickstarter
• 09:15 - Triplock (BGG, KS)
• 10:55 - Oaxaca (BGG, KS)
• 12:30 - Helionox Deluxe (BGG, KS)
• 14:55 - Epic AF (BGG, KS not availabe at time of publishing)
• Feature games
• 18:35 - Nautilion (BGG)
• 39:50 - Flatline (BGG)

Having pulled through another bought of thunderstorms and power losses, Albert and Julius return with another information packed episode, along with Albert spending a lot of time lecturing Julius about the history behind the game Sagrada. 

Julius and Albert take some time off gaming to discuss the hobby, and specifically the publishing industry of board games. They talk about Asmodee's latest distributor deals, acquisitions of Rory's Story Cubes, and minimum pricing requirements. Oh, and Albert really likes Rory's Story Cubes and wants to play a new RPG based on the cubes.

Albert also has done some research on the history behind Sagrada and the architecture leading to the stained glass windows that are the subject of the game Sagrada. After regaling us with tales of old times, Albert and Julius talk about the game itself and share their reviews and opinions on all aspects of the game.

Extended show notes:

• Recent plays:
  • 1 Deck Dungeon (01:45)
• News
  • Article on AIs for Solo Games (link) (03:48)
  • Asmode Distributor Deal (04:43)
  • Asmode Purchase of Rory's Story Cubes (10:21)
• Sagrada (15:45)
  • History (15:50)
  • Review (32:20)

Albert & Julius are back to their old habits with an 80 minute long show.  We've packed full-o-stuff.  We quickly celebrate the podcast's 6th anniversary and SGoYT's 4th anniversary.  It wasn't mentioned, but May is Solitaire Gaming Month.  At the time of this posting, you still have 2 days left to enjoy it!

Albert has a good time talking to the designers of 12 Reals Dungeonland, Nick Niotis & Panos Tryposkoufis.  The reboot should be on KS very soon (June 1st).  The game sounds fun and has Chicken Warriors!!

Finally, Julius talks about the Dresden Files Coop Card Game.  It's a neat game on a book series he loves.  Warning:  Avoid the tv show.

• 04:45 - Game apps
  • Onirim (BGG)
  • Star Realms (BGG)
• 06:50 - Patreon
• 07:20 - Manhattan Project 2 & dice game contest (BGG, KS, Contest)
• 09:30 - 12 Realms: Dungeonland Interview (BGG, KS)
• 33:40 - Listenner Feedback
• 42:10 - Dresden Files Co-operative Card Game (BGG)

Welcome to episode 127 of the 1 Player Podcast. Join us for a run through of a few games Albert is looking forward to, including multiple games from publisher White Dog Games. Meanwhile, Julius talks about his anticipation for Renegade, an upcoming game designed by Ricky Wilkins of Box of Delights. After running through the awards for Solo Gaming awards, Julius climbs on another soapbox to talk about important design considerations when creating a solo variant for a competitive game. Finally, Julius reviews Spirits of the Rice Paddy, a farming simulator centered around managing water flow to grow rice.

Thank you again to our Patreon supporters. Find us at https://www.patreon.com/1PlayerPodcast to support us

Join us on our Discord channel to talk about this and upcoming podcasts: https://discord.gg/Yj2WqFM

Full show notes:

• Anticpated games:
  • White Dog Games (03:19)
  • Renegade (06:04) (Designer diary)
• Solo Gaming Awards (09:49)
• Solo Variant Design Discussion (22:25)
  • Solo variant for Trickerion: To be released soon, join our Discord for updated information
• Spirits of the Rice Paddy review (36:56)

Welcome to episode 126 of the 1 Player podcast.  In this episode we talk a bit abou a few games we've been playing and look at some digital as well as upcoming games.  Albert talks a bit about Tableop day (which already hapened) and Julius gets on his soapbox about managing expectations.

Of course, we thank our lovely Patreon backers and finally talkk about te episode's feature game.  Albert spent some time playing Comancheria, the game on a history of he Comanche people of the american soutwest.  The game was designed by Joel Toppen (listen to episode #50 for an interview with Joel Toppen and  review of Navajo Wars).

• 02:00 Sagrada (BGG)
• 02:17 Gloomhaven (BGG, KS)
• 04:10 Inernaional Tabletop Day
• 07:35 Patreon
• 08:16 Unbroken calls for playtesters (BGG)
• 09:48 Card Thief digital game (Android, Apple)
• 12:26 Clans of Caledonia (BGG, KS)
• 15:50 Petrichor (BGG, KS)
• 19:45 Rise to Nobility (BGG, KS)
• 20:50 Julius is on a soapbox
• 33:20 Comancheria (BGG)

Welcome back to episode 125 of the 1 Player Podcast. Julius starts out with a discussion of his encounters with local armed robbery, and then explains more details about our new Discord chat.
With the release of the new Onirim app, we've also started playing too many games of Onirim on our respective devices, so we cover this app's release.
Julius also briefly talks about the solo mode in Gloomhaven (noting that the solo scenarios are not indicative of a full solo mode in the game).
Albert also talks about the new Isle of Dr. Necroix game on Kickstarter (and Julius will nag a full review out of him).

Julius also present V-Commandos, a stealth based cooperative game set in SS controlled Germany. Julius goes through the gameplay, nitpicks some, and comes out with a final conclusion. Albert just argues that it should be considered a war game (which it shouldn't).

Join us on Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/Yj2WqFM
Become a Patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/1PlayerPodcast

Show notes:
Opening:
- Armed robbery (00:01)
- Patreon backer thanks (00:04)
- Onirim app release (00:08)
- Gloomhaven (00:11)
- Isle of Dr. Necroix (00:13)
Game review: V-Commandos (00:16)
- Addendum for Villages of Valeria (00:16)

Hello listenners!  That's right.. this episode we cover two Valeria games..  Quests of Valeria & Villages of Valeria.  Julius played both games and gives his impression on these games.  Also we talk about other stuff we played and welcome our first Patreon backers.

Discord server invite link is here!

03:00 Patreon backer welcome

05:10 Comancheria

06:25 Nautilion

07:30 A Week in the Life of a Level 1 Slime

09:45 Gloomhaven

12:35 Island of Dr. Necreaux (KS)

14:00 Aeon's End: War Eternal (KS)

22:25 Terra Mystica: Gaia Project

23:50 Constantinople

29:00 Valeria

  29:55 Villages of Valeria

  43:50 Quests of Valeria

Welcome to the 1 Player Podcast version 2.0. Albert drives through the BGG awards for best games of 2016, focusing on the games that are solitaire friendly (including co-ops, wargames, and print and plays). Let us know if the BGG awards are something you feel make a strong influence (like Albert) or are more of an overrated popularity contest (like Julius) or somewhere in between.
Then, Julius takes a more thorough look at the results of our Audience Participation Poll and announce a number of changes we are making to the format of the show in response to the survey results (including fixing the show at 60 minutes, segmenting our reviews, removing Whats It Missing, and many other changes). If you think we've gone too far or can make other changes, please let us know, especially if there are any topics or segments you would recommend we cover in the future.
We also announce our brand new Patreon! More details in the show, but we are opening up a Patreon to help us increase the depth of coverage on the show and other benefits.
After all that, Julius and Albert review Aeon's End, a deckbuilding game set in a magic using dystopian realm. We employ our new methods of game review, including our overall likes and dislikes.

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/1PlayerPodcast

BGG Awards (00:01)
Audience Participation Poll (00:09)
Aeon's End review (00:32)
Contest Winner (01:04)

Welcome to episode #122.  In this episode Albert relives the Year of Warames (2016).  He does that by talking about Conquest of Paradise a game of exploration, discovery and conquest in ancient ppolyponesia.  Also, we ramble on about stuff, including more games.

• 00:32  Rambilng intro
•   03:53 Podcast survey
•   05:03 Stuff in general
•   05:18 Game night for Julius
•   08:03 Waiting for Games
•   09:08 Onirim digital edition (BGG)
•   11:34 Nautilion (BGG)
•   13:04 Disaster in the Himalayas (BGG)
•   13:43 Aeon's End (BGG)
•   14:58 Island of Dr. Nereaux, 2nd edition (BGG)
•   16:54 Qodd Heroes (BGG)
• 20:02 Conquest of Paradise (BGG)
•   56:15 What's it Missing

Listeners, thank you for subscribing. We are trying to get some feedback on the 1 Player Podcast. Julius and Albert take a small detour from our normal format to post up a podcast audience participation survey. We would really appreciate upir feedback and particpation. (And we're even giving away a gift certifiate to Miniature Market for survey respondents. )

Link to the Poll: https://boardgamegeek.com/article/25195624#25195624

Julius and Albert return from adventures in Norse mythology to talk about a highly thematic game. Well, they talk about A Feast For Odin, at least, and spend some time talking with Chris about Odin Quest. The mere mention of highly thematic games leads Albert down the dungeon hole of Card Rogue. And Albert and Julius talk about starting an audience participation survey (with more information on this topic to return next time).

Show notes:

• Banter (00:00)
  • Mythologies (00:01)
  • Card Rogue (00:05)
  • Audience participation (00:07)
  • Pillars of Eternity: Lords of the Eastern Reach (00:15)
• PnP Patrol: Odin Quest (00:17)
• A Feast For Odin (00:49)
• What's it Missing (01:38)

(Apologies for some of the skipping. Julius's computer did not process the recording correctly, which caused some skipping while recording.)

Wow folks.. did you expect another episode so quickly?  I didnt but I messed up 119.  I figured I should record something short to let listeners know the fixed #119 was back.  Well, why not turn it into an episode!

This episode only covers the RPG game, The Plant by by Jason Morningstar of Bully Pulpit Games.  He's designed many other acclaimed RPGs such as The shaba-Al-Hiri Roach, Fiasco, Night Witches and others.  The Plant is a grim RPG designed for exactly one player.  It is a very well implemented game that will leave a player full of emotions.  It's a fantasstic game, but not for the faint of heart (that means me).

• The Plant (BGG, Bully Pulpit Games)

Albert and Julius ramble on and on about lots of nonsense, but we also talk about a few solo games like The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire wich Julius just lovs.  This episode includes an interview and a PnP Patrol segment!!

• 0:00:30 - Intro & banter
• 0:04:00   - Fauna
• 0:05:50   - Cardline
• 0:07:58   - Cardventures (BGG)
• 0:13:23   - Yggdrasil (BGG)
• 0:15:13   - Conquest of Paradise (BGG)
• 0:15:53   - Elder Sign: Omens of Ice (BGG)
• 0:16:50   - Arkam Horror: The Card Game (BGG)
• 0:18:07 - Kickstarter Report
• 0:18:07   - SUPERHOT Card Game (BGG, KS)
• 0:23:22   - Dungeon Alliance Interview with Andrew Parks (BGG, website)
• 0:50:50 - PnP Patrol
•           - Rolling Thunder (BGG)
•           - F-14 Tomcats (BGG)
•           - Malta Convoy (BGG)
• 1:15:42 - Manhattan Project: Energy Empire (BGG)
• 1:47:54   - What's it missing?

Welcome, guests. Come in, come in, for an exciting tale about our rustic inn. Be not concerned by the red flecks on the couch; those are merely some minor rust stains. I guarantee, the quality of this podcast of beyond compare. Now, as I was saying, listen to a tale woven of Arkham Horror the card game, while Julius interviews the lead designer Matt Newman. Afterwards, Albert and Julius review the Bloody Inn, with absolutely no comparison to this fine establishment.

Show notes:

• 00:01 - Catch up banter
  • 00:01 - Subterra and Tabletopia
  • 00:04 - Recording plays and Feast for Odin scores
  • 00:06 - Arkham Horror card game updates
• 00:08 - Interview with Matt Newman, lead designer of Arkham Horror the card game
• 00:49 - Review of the Bloody Inn
• 01:22 - What's It Missing: Cleaning vs Animated Tokens

Folks, here's the spoiler episode on Pandemic Legacy: Season 1.  It includes information on Julius's experience playing the game and his thoughts on it.  It includes details about the game that you wil want to avoid if you have any expectations to play in the future.  You have been warned (possibly overwarned).

In episode 107 Abert and Julius discuss Pandemic: Legacy.  This is the runaway co-op hit in which you get to play through a 1 time adventure.  We also discuss a few other small things, but mostly this is all Pandemic: Legacy.  Note, this episode has no spoilers, but we will also release a spoiler episode in a few days.