All posts filed under “Tabletop Games”

September 14, 2021

Episode 272: The Only D20s in Bulgaria

This week the word is Collectors, and begins with the nerds talking about their own collections and various types of collectors. The discussion includes classic arcade games (including the obscure hit, Rip Off), Magic cards (and what it was like in the very early days), collecting topics ranging from curating to completeness, Keith’s story about the difficulty of obtaining RPG dice in Bulgaria, and the mystique of Cosmic Wimpout dice. Moving on to media, Andy talks a little about The Expanse and a lot about Taskmaster. After dropping the spoiler curtain, they discuss the first two episodes of Lower Decks and What If? episode 2.

SPOILER WARNING: contains spoilers.

August 31, 2021

Episode 271: Are These Porcupines Wonderful?

This week the word is speculation. The nerds talk about various What Ifs and alternate reality stories, culminating (at the end of the show) in their discussion of the first episode of the “What If?” series. Next they discuss Taskmaster again, which Keith told Andy about last week; now that Andy’s gotten hooked on it as well, he had a lot to say about it. Next they discuss a few more of Donald Barthelme’s Forty Stories, focusing mostly on “Porcupines at the University.” Lastly, Keith shares his thoughts about Suicide Squad.

SPOILER WARNING: contains spoilers.

August 27, 2021

Episode 270: Destroy This Cake — Beautifully

This week the word is Taskmaster, and begins with the nerds talking about what it’s like to be their own taskmasters. Then Keith tells Andy about the British telly program called Taskmaster, and Andy tells Keith about A Very Brady Renovation. Andy shares a few recent findings, and talks about the word findings. Specifically, Andy talks about finally starting to watch The Wire, and Keith shares some thoughts about the Olympics and Mythic Quest. Lastly they discuss another batch of Donald Barthelme stories.

August 3, 2021

Episode 268: Yoo-Hoo, Andy Looney!

This week the word is epistolary. First, the nerds discuss their favorite letter-related works of literature, then they talk about the fine art of including inexplicable “enclosures” when mailing a letter. Next, Andy talks about traveling again for the first time since the pandemic started, and describes his family’s recent trip to The House on the Rock. Keith talks about recent plumbing woes, and Andy talks about getting a new kitchen floor. Moving on to media, Keith talks about the first half of The Tomorrow War and Andy mentions an old movie called Idaho Transfer. They discuss 7 more Donald Barthelme short stories, including one they both really like called The Palace at 4 AM. After the spoiler curtain, they discuss the next-to-last episode of Loki.

SPOILER WARNING: contains spoilers.

July 20, 2021

Episode 267: Various Variants

This week the word is Variants. First they nerds discuss media with various variants of the same character: mirror universe versions, evil twins, clones, multiverse crossovers, etc. Moving on to real life stuff, Keith talks about the visit by his mom during the heat wave, and Andy talks about trying to think of something to do with 7 extra cards on a card sheet. Next they begin their discussions of Donald Barthelme’s Forty Stories, starting with the first four. Lastly, they discuss episode 4 of Loki.

SPOILER WARNING: contains spoilers.

July 13, 2021

Episode 266: They Write and Make Games

This week the word is Icebreaker. Starting with icebreakers in general, they then discuss Andy’s videogame by that name and the newly released video about Andy that started with a fan’s childhood obsession with Icebreaker. Keith talks about relocating his mother, and a new version of Beowulf he just started reading. Next they hatch a plan to read 100 short stories by Donald Barthelme. They also discuss the Kojak Board Game. Their media discussions include Shadow & Bone, Tenet, Quantum Leap, Rick & Morty, The Behavior Group, and, after the spoiler curtain, the first 3 episodes of Loki.

SPOILER WARNING: contains spoilers.

June 22, 2021

Episode 265: The Sandfruit Stew has a Little Too Much Sandfruit

This week the word is cicadas. Andy gives a brief report on the swarms of cicadas, which can be heard faintly in the background of the entire show. Next Keith gives a report on the current status of his Patreon-based D&D campaign. Andy compares the cicadas to Logan’s Run, then talks about re-watching some other classics including Galaxy Quest and Inception. They discuss other dream-walking classics, and Keith talks about Shadow and Bone and Mass Effect. Andy talks about several superhero shows he’s decided to give up on, and Keith talks about putting the brakes on their attempts to read the Dictionary of the Khazars. Lastly, they discuss the final episode of season 1 of Debris.

SPOILER WARNING: contains spoilers.

May 25, 2021

Episode 263: The Talisman Effect

Blurb: This week the word is Expansion. The nerds discuss the challenges of creating expansions for games, including issues like bloat, keeping current with changing source material, and needing to have something cool & new for the expansion vs. wishing for that cool new feature to be part of the core game. Some specific games they discuss (in addition to their own) are Talisman, The Lord of the Rings board game, Over-the-Edge’s Cut-Ups system, Cosmic Encounter, and even Monopoly. Then Andy discusses the process of developing two new expansions for the Star Trek Fluxx series of games, and Keith drops the code word “pomegranate.” Next they discuss the next difficult-to-read entry in their book club, which is Dictionary of the Khazars, by Milorad Pavic. Lastly, after the spoiler curtain, they discuss Debris, in particular episodes 9 & 10.

SPOILER WARNING: contains spoilers.

May 17, 2021

Episode 262: The Final Episode

This week the word is Finale. First the nerds discuss notable finales, cliff-hangers, final episodes that had to serve as finales, good endings, bad endings, unexpected endings, and more. Next, they check in with work stuff, then they discuss the final chapter of the book they’ve been reading for months, S. Lastly, they discuss the last episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier and the first few episodes of Debris.

SPOILER WARNING: contains spoilers.