1 Player Podcast (Albert Hernandez and Julius Besser)

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)

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)

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)

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 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 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 I tell Julius and the audience all about Free Ride, the train game by Friedemann Friese and published by Rio Grande Games.  This is a fun pick-up and deliver game with quick turns that includes a solo challenge.  Hop aboard and hear all about the game and what I think.

Also, listen in for the Final Girl Season 3 giveaway!

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

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 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)

This week tells us about a Monster High-ish game called Mythic Mischief.  In it, you play a group of monster kids in school, trying to cause mischief in the library and get one of the rival cliques in trouble.  It's a head-to-head sportsball type game of out-maneuvering your opponent's team members so they get caught by the library's Tomekeeper.  The game also features a solo mode that sounds pretty fun to me.  You can get one of two different base games, each with a different set of factions as well as stand-alone expansions, each consisting of a new faction.

• Mythic Mischief (BGG, IV Studio)

This week a sick Albert tells Julius all about Hallertau.  It's a really interesting worker placement farming game by Uwe Rosenberg.  Yes another one!  As per usual, this is a fun game with lots interesting choices, cool mechanics and more bits that fit in a normal sized box.

• Hallertau (BGG)

This week Julius and and daughter join this week to talk about the very lovely Wild Gardens.  This is a game about foraging for natural ingredients to put into your delicious recipes. It's a beautiful game that reminds of Studio Ghibli animations - think Totoro. 

• Wild Gardens (BGG, Rose Gauntlet)

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)

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!

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)

This week again no episode. I was affected by Hurricane Helene. My family is fine but we are with out power going on four days now. It will be a few weeks before I can get the currently recorded episode out. 

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 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 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 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 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)

This week I talk about a small solo RPG called Anamnesis.  This is a game about forgetting your past and then rediscovering who you are.  I found it hard to start because you begin with no information and you are making it all up as you go along!  That even goes for the setting!  I found as I played, the story comes together nicely and I have had a really good time every game I've played.

• Anamnesis(RPG Geek, itchi.io)

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 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)

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 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 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 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)

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)

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!

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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 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)

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)

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)

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)

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.

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.

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)

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)

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

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)

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

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!

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)

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

NOTE: THIS EPISODE IS FULL OF SPOILERS!!

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)

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 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 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)

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.

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.

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 we talk about the (cozy?) game of animal crime fighting.  This game is set in the Edwardian world of Sherlock Holmes.  You are a mixed group of animals trying to solve animal crimes happening in and around Baker Street.  It's a fun little game that is more akin to a Choose Your Own Adventure book than anything else.

• The Animals of Baker Street (BGG, Iello)

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)

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 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)

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)

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 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

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 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.

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Skyline Express (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 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)

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)

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)

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)

• 04:20 - Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age (BGG, Eagle-Gryphon)
• 08:55 - Cartographers (BGG, Thunderworks)
• 14:40 - Yahtzee! (BGG)
• 17:40 - Dungeon Dice (BGG)
• 22:45 - Railroad Ink (BGG)
• 27:39 - OctoDice (BGG)
• 31:27 - Clip-Cut Parks (BGG)
• 34:28 - Three Sisters (BGG)
• 36:23 - Catan: The Dice Game (BGG)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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 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)

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!

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

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 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)

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)

This week Julius takes us back to the table with Lewis & Clark.  Go on a slow boat ride accoss the North American continent to explore lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase and explore the yet unclaimed Pacific Northwest.  That is, not yet taken from the native populations of the are.

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 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, 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.

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

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)

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)

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.

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 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 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 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)

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)

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!