It Came From the Tabletop! A Board Game Podcast - Andromeda and Blue Lagoon

You guys missed the obvious comparison on Blue Lagoon: Through the Desert. Also, I'm curious as to why you guys think Knizia scoring is difficult. It's generally pretty straightforward IMO. You guys play a lot of super complex AT stuff so I wonder why a scoring system trips you up.

Keep up the great work. I love listening to you guys. It reminds me of the podcast I was doing.

Ah fuck Andromeda sounds amazing. I love gimmick components that actually work. It's probably not gonna get a reprint though, looking at its history.

We totally did forget the Through the Desert comparison. Neither of us are all that familiar with it (I only played it once years ago), but we definitely did notice it.

I’ve played Blue Lagoon 3 more times over the course of the week and the scoring isn’t that complicated. I think it was that it was the second game we played, we still wanted to record, and I had somewhat underestimated the degree of strategy in the game a breezes through the rules explaination. We didn’t really take the time to let it sink in. That being said, this really is an _excellent_ game.

Complicated may not be the right word of Knizia scoring. Unusual? Non-traditional? I love the idea of scoring whatever you have the least of, but then you also have stuff like Ra. I love the experience of actually playing Ra, the simple turn structure and the unbelievable tension and excitement that builds as the track fill up with those red tiles. But I HATE the scoring in that one. It’s so close to being the kind of game that I can break out with anyone, but then I have to explain how some tiles go away, some don’t, some only score at the end of the game, etc. The overall tone set by the core gameplay does not match the in-depth scoring system, and that feels jarring to me. Blue Lagoon comes close to that at first glance, but repeat plays really cleared it up.

Another really good episode. A few of us were talking in the (unofficial) TWBG Slack yesterday about review styles we like and you guys really nail it for me in that you talk about how it feels to play the game without falling into rules fog or long narratives. I really feel like I get a good sense of a game just from hearing you talk about it.

I'm not sure if you guys have control over this, since I've never done podcasting, but your cast should be registered with Spotify if possible. They've started streaming casts with that service & I think it would boost your exposure a bit.

Is the TWBG Slack feed generating traffic?

I liked this episode and originally wrote a pretty long message for this thread, but then decided to kick it up into an mini-article instead. It was more general in nature.

How many people are at your gaming nights? My group is usually four to seven, which makes it very hard to get much out of the ordinary onto the table to play. It's either classics or the newest thing (and granted, they're usually good stuff) but I can't imagine I could get a game like Andromeda out and generate enough interest to get it played.

Frohike wrote: I'm not sure if you guys have control over this, since I've never done podcasting, but your cast should be registered with Spotify if possible. They've started streaming casts with that service & I think it would boost your exposure a bit.

Ugh, I forgot, I had started to get the wheels in motion for that and kind of lost track on what I doing. I need to finalize that and get us on there. Thanks for the reminder, I’ll try to set it up next week.

Sagrilarus wrote: Is the TWBG Slack feed generating traffic?

I liked this episode and originally wrote a pretty long message for this thread, but then decided to kick it up into an mini-article instead. It was more general in nature.

How many people are at your gaming nights? My group is usually four to seven, which makes it very hard to get much out of the ordinary onto the table to play. It's either classics or the newest thing (and granted, they're usually good stuff) but I can't imagine I could get a game like Andromeda out and generate enough interest to get it played.

It’s usually just 3 of us with the occasional (and painfully rare, I might add) 4th.

Josh Look wrote: It’s usually just 3 of us with the occasional (and painfully rare, I might add) 4th.

Yeah, we had four until Repoman got a new job that took him away from us. EggShen was a regular for a while but has been having other life commitments recently. We have a few others now who come only occasionally. I would love to find a regular fourth. Four was a good number, but finding the right person is proving difficult.

I'm glad it's not seven, because that would be overwhelming. I can see why it would be difficult to get certain games on the table. Three to four really is nice for an intimate Thursday night with friends.

I dig the vibe of this podcast. It’s the kind of conversation that’s a joy to listen to and it’s even about board games. And who knew how much mileage a couple guys could get out of a space ashtray? Turns out, a lot.

Thanks. I look forward to the next one.

Cheers!

Yep the vibe is just great. It's one of those ideas that you think. .. how come there's not a dozen of these? We play games. .. how come no-one else is doing a podcast where they play and the immediately discuss? But on top of that, it's just a pleasure to listen to, i guess at least partly because the way you guys talk about games fits my "worldview". Would happily happily be a fourth, it just sounds like you enjoy games the way I do. If I wasnt on the other side of the world.

mc wrote: Would happily happily be a fourth, it just sounds like you enjoy games the way I do. If I wasnt on the other side of the world.

No problem. Just join us every OTHER Thursday. . .

Listened to this one last weekend. Really enjoyed the discussion of Moon's Andromeda, I love hearing about old games I've never seen or tried.

I found a copy of Andromeda for $25 shipped. I feel like I won something.

Y’all got me wanting a copy of Andromeda now...I didn’t really like it too much when I first played it, in the throes of Euro backlash...but it is a cool, fun design. I think my kids will like it.

Michael Barnes wrote: Y’all got me wanting a copy of Andromeda now...I didn’t really like it too much when I first played it, in the throes of Euro backlash...but it is a cool, fun design. I think my kids will like it.

Mine did. She was into it when she was 6-10 years old. The cubes and the cosmic ashtray makes the probability very visual and intuitive. And it has that fun tactile toy aspect to it as well.

$26 on eBay, sold!