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  • Podcasts & Videos
  • It Came From the Tabletop! A Board Game Podcast - Andromeda and Blue Lagoon

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

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Game Information

There Will Be Games

This week Al and Josh revisit Alan R. Moon's Andromeda and make their first explorations in Reiner Knizia's Blue Lagoon.

 

Thanks to The Minibosses!

There Will Be Games

Josh Look (He/Him)
Staff Podcaster

One night during the summer of 1997, Josh Look's cool uncle who owned a comic shop taught him how to play Magic the Gathering. The game set off his imagination in a way that he could not sleep that night, and he's been fascinated by games ever since. He spent many afternoons during his high school years skipping homework to play Dungeons & Dragons and paint Warhammer minatures, going on to discover hobby board games in his early 20s. He's been a writer for ThereWillBe.Games and is the creator and co-host of the geek culture podcast, The Wolfman's Lounge. He enjoys games that encourage a heavy amount of table talk and those that explore their themes beyond just their settings.

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Articles & Poscasts by Josh

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stormseeker75's Avatar
stormseeker75 replied the topic: #292237 14 Feb 2019 07:31
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.
Vysetron's Avatar
Vysetron replied the topic: #292247 14 Feb 2019 08:38
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.
Josh Look's Avatar
Josh Look replied the topic: #292253 14 Feb 2019 09:14
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.
Legomancer's Avatar
Legomancer replied the topic: #292293 14 Feb 2019 14:30
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.
Frohike's Avatar
Frohike replied the topic: #292297 14 Feb 2019 14:51
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.
Sagrilarus's Avatar
Sagrilarus replied the topic: #292298 14 Feb 2019 15:09
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.
Josh Look's Avatar
Josh Look replied the topic: #292301 14 Feb 2019 15:55

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.
Josh Look's Avatar
Josh Look replied the topic: #292303 14 Feb 2019 15:56

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.
engineer Al's Avatar
engineer Al replied the topic: #292323 14 Feb 2019 22:23

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.
RolandHemisphere's Avatar
RolandHemisphere replied the topic: #292326 14 Feb 2019 23:33
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!
mc's Avatar
mc replied the topic: #292328 15 Feb 2019 00:17
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.
engineer Al's Avatar
engineer Al replied the topic: #292408 15 Feb 2019 19:29

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. . .;)
Gary Sax's Avatar
Gary Sax replied the topic: #293139 27 Feb 2019 16:57
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.
stormseeker75's Avatar
stormseeker75 replied the topic: #293237 01 Mar 2019 07:35
I found a copy of Andromeda for $25 shipped. I feel like I won something.
Michael Barnes's Avatar
Michael Barnes replied the topic: #293238 01 Mar 2019 08:12
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.
ubarose's Avatar
ubarose replied the topic: #293264 01 Mar 2019 13:58

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.
Michael Barnes's Avatar
Michael Barnes replied the topic: #293267 01 Mar 2019 14:12
$26 on eBay, sold!