So Very Wrong About Games
A podcast about all manner of hobby games by Mike Walker and Mark Bigney. Bad games don't go easy on you, so we don't go easy on them. Thorough analysis via reviews, news, and discussion of topics in gaming. We take context seriously, we value your time, and we're not into hype. Just because games are fun doesn't mean we can't take them seriously, and just because we take them seriously doesn't mean we can't have fun.
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#44: Discover: Lands Unknown and Overused Themes
We are an easily-triggered group, we geeks, we nerds; so allow us to exercize due diligence and offer the following warnings. Spoiler Alert: we discuss what spoilers are. Meta Alert: we get pretty meta about spoilers. Existentialism Alert: Walker gets...
70 min
352
#43: Stephenson's Rocket and Dealing with Frust...
We've always been here. Waiting, in this basement, yelling into the can. When we invented podcasts all those years ago it was merely as avenue for our pre-existing subterranean discourse. Now some of you have joined us, and our labours are no longer...
71 min
353
#42: Battle for Rokugan and Gateway Games
Reading your audience is a hard thing, and not even just when blasting your errant opinions over the interwebs. Mark couldn't read the room when Walker requested a certain game, and that didn't end well. Walker couldn't perceive Mark's growing...
73 min
354
#41: Omega Protocol and Keeping Games Moving
I hope you're planning your Arkhipov Day festivities. Don't get me wrong, I dig Stanislav Petrov as much as the next guy, but for my money Vasili Arkhipov is the man, and he doesn't get nearly enough credit. Because, you know, he either saved your...
75 min
355
#40: Gaslands and The Perils of Collecting
We're always wondering about what comes next, always on the lookout for the next big thing--both in games and broadcasting. That's why we're open to being elevated to the judiciary, so the next time there's a search committee feel free to add Mark and...
73 min
356
#39: BattleCON and Catch-up Mechanics
We would like to apologize for the poorer audio quality of this episode. The editor (Mark) would dearly like to attribute it somehow to Walker's illness-induced stupor, but try as he might he can't seem to blame the victim on this one. The microphone...
75 min
357
#38: Too Many Bones and Difficulty in Co-ops
Sometimes, dear listeners, the news does matter, and in such instances our hosts feel under-equipped to address them properly. Such is the nature of crippling incompetence. I mean, they could have devoted their time to worthwhile pursuits (like...
72 min
358
#37: Sentinels of the Multiverse OblivAeon and ...
Oh, hello there. The door's unlocked--just come on in. Please pardon our informal setting, here, we just want you to be comfortable. I suppose, though, that a tone of complete familiarity shouldn't prevent us from doing introductions. I'm the episode...
78 min
359
#36: The Voyages of Marco Polo and Walker's Top 10
Walker, ever truculent, finally succumbs to the inevitable and submits his top ten. Now we can move on, and it is best we do, as there is no shortage of games to be played! Gencon is over and the new releases flow like sweet chocolate milk. Despite...
86 min
360
#35: Root and Mark's Top 10
We are but slaves to your whims here at SVWAG, and when our massed masters demand that we dance for their amusement, we must perforce oblige. We resisted for a time, but clearly that was folly. The people have spoken, and their demands will be met: we...
79 min
361
#34: Tigris & Euphrates and Yellow & Yangtze
Since the dawn of time, predating recorded history, there has been the genius of Reiner Knizia. The Code of Hammurabi taught its readers how to play Tigris & Euphrates. Enkidu had his own custom set fashioned from the bones of his enemies. Gilgamesh...
74 min
362
#33: Thunderstone Quest and Mechanisms We're Ti...
This episode enters the Fire Swamp, the reputed lair of the R.O.U.S.--the Rodents of Unusual Size. Mark doesn't think they exist. We go in-depth into Thunderstone Quest, a long-serving deckbuilder that is a loyal as a farm boy. Walker announces that...
72 min
363
#32: Street Masters and Etiquette
This week we stumble on the terrible, horrifying fact that there are other hobbies than boardgames, and we take pity on those poor lamented souls who are enslaved in their thrall. Just what is scrapbooking, anyway? Walker has a theory, but no one is...
80 min
364
#31: SEAL Team Flix and Getting Rid of Games
A reminder that there is no necessary connection between our feature game and our topic. We would not divest ourselves of SEAL Team Flix, The Only Game that Matters, if for no other reason than we need it on hand so we can talk about it and only it...
74 min
365
#30: Food Chain Magnate and Game Storage
It is important to stay flexible, and follow the ways of those who practise judo and jiu-jitsu. That is why we choke people as often as we can. Wait, that's not right. Rather, it is important to be supple and adaptable. We had intended to be on time...
65 min
366
#29: Kemet and Turn Order
We here at SVWAG take acronyms very seriously, but sometimes get carried away with such abbreviations. As a public service announcement, allow me to remind all of you that TI:4 stands for Twilight Imperium 4th Edition. It is purely coincidental that I...
71 min
367
#28: Keyflower and Games that Are Too Long
You can have too much of a good thing, which is why Mark always tries to interrupt Walker before he can finish a single sentence. Of course, "too much" is a highly subjective idea, whether applied to game length or pie. This week Keyflower is...
71 min
368
#27: Hyperborean Bag-Building and Rating Systems
We delve into the culinary arts here at So Very Wrong About Games; having failed at math but excelling in eating, both Mark and Walker eschew conventional rating systems for gastronomical ones. They had considered rating the rating systems themselves,...
75 min
369
#26: Crisis at Steamfall and Interview with Chr...
Walker encourages you to tell friends about So Very Wrong About Games, despite his not listening to the podcast. Mark has recommended it to him, but apparently Walker's contempt for his co-host's opinions is not limited to games, but extends also to...
83 min
370
#25: Lords of Hellas and Problematic Expansions
Mark tries to come to terms with his outright hypocrisy, largely on the basis that he feels it's acceptable for him but not for everyone else. Walker yearns for glory, but learns to his disappointment that glory is not legal tender and cannot be...
65 min
371
#24: The City of Kings and Interview with Eric ...
As it happens, games do not spawn ex nihilo, fully armed and armored from Zeus' forehead. I'm certain that's what most of you believed, but it's not true! To confirm this implausible fact, Mark sat down with Eric Reuss, the designer of Spirit Island,...
80 min
372
#23: Mage Knight and Player Scaling
This podcast scales seamlessly from 2 to an in finite number of listeners, but we're not nearly that optimistic. Walker sometimes dreams of a solo mode, but sadly Mark insists on speaking. Mark and Walker again turn to Vlaada Chvatil, a designer who...
69 min
373
#22: Feudum and Euro/Ameritrash Hybridization
You wouldn't like Mark when he's angry, but that's probably attributable to his being fundamentally unlikable at the best of times. At any rate, Walker tries to rein him in from ranting too long about obvious component failures, publisher laziness,...
70 min
374
#21: Quartermaster General and Gaming Conventions
Mark and Walker delve into matters of criminal justice this week, pondering the balance and tradeoffs between deterrence, retribution, and rehabilitation. Walker seems to think that Bunny Kingdom a form of cruel and unusual punishment, whereas Mark...
69 min
375
#20: GKR: Heavy Hitters and Blinging Games
Times are bad--children no longer respect their elders and everyone is running a Kickstarter. Nostalgia fuels our news segment today, with varying levels of scorn for cherished memories. For those of you playing along at home with their So Very Wrong...
71 min