#81: Gen Con 2018 Recap

Draft Mechanic Episode #81: Gen Con 2018 Convention Recap

Pasaraya: Supermarket Manager
2016, Boxfox Games
Designer: Seh Hui Leong
Artist: Macxell Lim

Warsaw: City of Ruins
2016, Granna Games/2018, North Star Games
Designer: Filip Miłuński
Artist: Tytus Brzozowski, Grzegorz Molas

Everdell
2018, Starling Games
Designer: James A. Wilson
Artist: Andrew Bosley

Spirits of the Forest
2018, ThunderGryph Games
Designer: Michael Schacht
Artist: Natalie Dombois

Franchise
2018, Queen Games
Designer: Christwart Conrad
Artist:  Ian O'Toole

Monster Crunch! The Breakfast Cereal Battle Game
2018,  Big G Creative
Designer: Forrest-Pruzan Creative

Team UP!
2018, Helvetiq
Designer:  Hadi Barkat, Sébastien Pauchon

Asmodee Digital: Gloomhaven

Cryptid
2018, Osprey Games
Designer:  Hal Duncan, Ruth Veevers
Artist:  Kwanchai Moriya

Homebrewers
2019, Greater Than Games (Dice Hate Me Games)
Designer: Matthew O'Malley, Ben Rosset
Artist: SaRae Henderson

Sabotage Kickstarter

Crusader Kings: The Boardgame
2018, Free League
Designer: Tomas Härenstam, Nils Karlén, Jon Manker
Artist: Ola Larsson, Johanna Pettersson

Europa Universalis: The Board Game
2019, Aegir Games
Designer: Eivind Vetlesen

Into the Black Forest
2018 or 2019, Green Couch Games

War Chest
2018, Alderac Entertainment Group
Designer: Trevor Benjamin, David Thompson
Artist: Brigette Indelicato

Monster Match
2018, North Star Games
Designer:  Ken Gruhl, Quentin Weir
Artist:  Linda DeSantis, Ben Goldman

Strike
2012,  Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH
Designer: Dieter Nüßle
Artist: Franz Vohwinkel
(Reimplementation coming soon as Impact: Battle of the Elements)

Mars Open: Tabletop Golf
2018, Bellwether Games
Designer: Dennis Hoyle
Artist: Harris Fagotto, Katie Khau

Run, Fight, or Die: Reloaded Kickstarter

Comanauts
2018, Plaid Hat Games
Designer: Jerry Hawthorne
Artist: Jimmy Xia, Tregis

Spirits of the Wild
2018, Mattel
Designer: Nick Hayes

One Deck Galaxy
2019, Asmadi Games
Designer: Unlisted

Fast Forward: FORTUNE
2018, Stronghold Games/2F Spiele
Designer: Friedemann Friese
Artist:  Harald Lieske

Bad Maps
2019, Floodgate Games
Designer: Tim Armstrong
Artist: Kristen Pauline, Peter Wocken

Bosk
2019, Floodgate Games
Designer: Daryl Andrews, Erica Bouyouris
Artist: Kwanchai Moriya

Conex
2017, HABA
Designer: Prospero Hall

Karuba: The Card Game
2017, HABA
Designer: Rüdiger Dorn
Artist: Claus Stephan

One Shot Network

Kuma's Corner

High Rise
2019, Formal Ferret Games
Designer: Gil Hova

Danielle Corsetto: Girls With Slingshots, Stuck at 32, Boo! It's Sex

Taft's Ale House

Section Timestamps:

01:00 Wednesday (intro)

03:48 Played: Pasaraya

06:27 Planning for the week

07:44 Thursday recap

09:00 First stops in the hall

11:15 Played: Warsaw, City of Ruins

15:45 Played: Everdell

20:57 Played: Spirits of the Forest

25:21 Demo: Franchise

32:33 Played: Team Up!

36:06 News from: Asmodee Digital

41:48 News from: Direwolf Digital

45:04 Demo: Cryptid

49:45 Friday recap

50:33 Played: Homebrewers

55:19 Played: Sabotage

56:38 Demo: Crusader Kings & Europa Universalis

61:08 Played: Into the Black Forest

64:50 News from: Alderac Entertainment (AEG)

68:16 News: New T.I.M.E Stories surprise

69:45 Rolling Dice & Taking Names meet up

71:14 Played: Mars Open

74:19 Grey Fox Games Sponsorship Spot

75:09 Saturday recap

76:19 Demo: Comanauts

80:18 Played: Spirits of the Wild

83:03 Demo: One Deck Galaxy

88:10 Played: Fast Forward “Fortune”

91:14 Demos: Bad Maps & Bosk

97:34 Demos: HABA

101:07 Panels & Events

104:08 Sunday recap

104:34 Played: High Rise

110:39 Gen Con Final Thoughts

114:30 Outro

#65: 2017 In Review

Happy New Year! We’re back once again with our first episode of the year and our customary recap of the year that was. We take a look back at the biggest news stories in gaming and beer in 2017, share our favorites in a pile of categories, discuss our six favorite beers of 2017, and of course our top six games of last year as well. We’re tying this episode up with responses from our new DM Slack channel’s “Final Round” topic: What was the biggest surprise in gaming for you in 2017? Enjoy!

2017 Superlatives:
Best Artwork:
Danielle: Near and Far (Red Raven Games)
Jake: Flipships (Renegade Game Studios)

Best Non-mini Components:
Jake: Dice Forge (Libellud)
Danielle: Photosynthesis (Blue Orange Games)

Biggest Disappointment:
Danielle: Photosynthesis (Blue Orange Games)
Jake: Yamatai (Days of Wonder)

Game I Wish I'd Played More from 2017:
Danielle: The 7th Continent (Serious Poulp)
Jake: Dojo Kun (CMON)

Best Older Game I Played for the First Time in 2017:
Danielle: Bora Bora (Ravensburger)
Jake: Rococo (Eagle-Gryphon Games)

Best Party Game:
Vegas Wits & Wagers (North Star Games)

Best Card Game:
Danielle: Herbaceous (Pencil First Games/Dr. Finn Games)
Jake: Matryoshka (White Goblin Games/Terra Nova Games)

Most Innovative Game:
Danielle: The 7th Continent (Serious Poulp)
Jake: Magic Maze (Sit Down!)

Favorite Beers of 2017 Six-Packs:
Jake:

• Burial Beer Co. “Houtenhamer” Double-Barrel Imperial Stout. Asheville, NC. 10% ABV, 60 IBU.
• Perennial Artisan Ales “Maman” Barrel-aged Imperial Stout. St. Louis, MO. 11.5% ABV.
• Side Project Brewing “Saison du Blé” Imperial Stout. St. Louis, MO. 6% ABV.
• Bearded Iris Brewing “Chasing Rainbows Three” New England IPA. Nashville, TN. 5.8% ABV.
• B. Nektar Meadery “#DragonsAreReal” Cherry chipotle mead aged in New Holland Brewing - Dragon's Milk barrels with cacao nibs. Ferndale, MI. 14.0% ABV.
• Burial & Interboro & Run the Jewels “Stay G-O-L-D” IPA. Asheville, NC. 6.0% ABV, 50 IBU.

Danielle:

• Boiler Brewing “Quintuple Dog Dare” Imperial IPA. Lincoln, NE. 18.4% ABV.
• Good Road Cider Works “Avogadro's Trail” Semi-sweet Mead. Charlotte, NC. 7.8% ABV.
• Epic Brewing Company “Big Bad Baptista” Mexican Coffee inspired Imperial Stout. Salt Lake City, UT. 12% ABV, 65 IBU.
• B. Nektar Meadery “#DragonsAreReal” Cherry chipotle mead aged in New Holland Brewing - Dragon's Milk barrels with cacao nibs. Ferndale, MI. 14.0% ABV.
• Edmund's Oast “Kvass” Kvass. Charlotte, NC. 2.6% ABV.
• Founders Brewing “Frootwood” Barrel-aged cherry ale. Grand Rapids, MI. 8.0% ABV.

Favorite Games of 2017 Six-Packs:

Jake's Picks:

Downforce
Restoration Games
Designer:  Rob Daviau, Justin D. Jacobson, Wolfgang Kramer

Matryoshka
Terra Nova Games/White Goblin Games
Designer: Aaron Dill, Sean Sweigart, John Kovaleski

Flipships
Renegade Game Studios
Designer: Kane Klenko

Danielle's Picks:

5-Minute Dungeon
Wiggles 3D
Designer: Connor Reid

Azul
Plan B Games
Designer: Jun Sasaki

Seikatsu
IDW Games
Designer:  Matt Loomis, Isaac Shalev

We Both Picked:

The 7th Continent
Serious Poulp
Designer:  Ludovic Roudy, Bruno Sautter

Sagrada
Floodgate Games
Designer:  Adrian Adamescu, Daryl Andrews

Near and Far
Red Raven Games
Designer:  Ryan Laukat

Section Timestamps:

Intro

01:00 Show Housekeeping

02:32 Announcing the Draft Mechanic Slack Channel!

05:27 Meta Mechanic, 2017 by the numbers

08:27 Preface to the Superlatives

11:43 Biggest News Stories of 2017

25:10 Superlative Categories

55:34 Our Top Six Beers of 2017

71:20 Grey Fox Games sponsorship spot

72:08 Our Top Six Games of 2017

96:48 Final Round: Biggest game surprises

103:41 Outro

#60: Fast Forward!

Draft Mechanic Episode 60: Friedemann Friese's Fast Forward: FEAR, FORTRESSS & FLEE, Matryoshka On Tap, InBetween, Best Treehouse Ever: Forest of Fun!, and Beer Primer: Scottish/Scotch Ales

Essen is just around the corner and we’ve got a few of the hot hot releases to talk about! Our big feature today is the new Fast Forward series from Friedemann Friese - three new ‘fable’ games that you learn as you play and change with each game. It’s a wild new idea - did FF pull it off? We’ve also got a look at the latest from Board&Dice - InBetween - a tight two-player battle over a quiet suburban town. We’re also going to share a Kickstarter preview for the latest Green Couch Games title - Best Treehouse Ever’s standalone/combinable expansion Forest of Fun! Spoiler: it’s FUN. Our on tap is one of our recent plays - the small-box card collecting and trading game Matryoshka - and we share four beer pairings worth hunting down for your collection if you can! Danielle’s got a beer primer on the difference between Scottish and Scotch ales to wrap the episode up. But what’s that, down there in the timestamps? Seems there’s some mysterious audio at the end of this episode after the credits? How odd… 

Jake's Essen Picks List

Kickstarters:
Legends of Sleepy Hollow (BGG Page)
Best Treehouse Ever: Forest of Fun! (BGG Page) - Launches 10/25

Recent Plays:
InBetween
2017, Board&Dice
Designer: Adam Kwapiński
Artist:  Seweryn Borkowski, Tomasz Kalisz, Paweł Niziołek, Sebastian Zakrzewski

The Fast Forward Series:
Fast Forward: FEAR
2017, Stronghold Games
Designer: Friedemann Friese
Artist:  Harald Lieske

Fast Forward: FORTRESS
2017, Stronghold Games
Designer: Friedemann Friese
Artist:  Harald Lieske

Fast Forward: FLEE
2017, Stronghold Games
Designer: Friedemann Friese
Artist:  Harald Lieske

On Tap:
Matryoshka
2016,  Terra Nova Games/White Goblin Games
Designer: Sérgio Halaban
Artist: Eduardo Bera

• Modern Times Beer "Kingdom of the Dolls"; San Diego, CA, USA
  6.3% ABV, 30 IBU
  Sour saison aged in white wine barrels.
• Csupor Sör "Matryoshka"; Budapest, Hungary
  12% ABV, 40 IBU.
  Russian-Hungarian imperial stout brewed in collaboration with ReWort Brewery in Sergiev Posad, Russia.
• Fort George Brewery "Matryoshka"; Astoria, OR, USA
  12% ABV, 65 IBU
  Small batch Russian imperial stout with a smaller batch with cocoa nibs added and then an even smaller batch with raspberries also added.
• BrewDog "Russian Doll"; Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
  Barleywine: 10% ABV, 100 IBU
  Double IPA: 8% ABV, 85 IBU
  IPA: 6% ABV, 70 IBU
  Pale Ale: 4% ABV, 35 IBU
  Box set of beers all brewed with the same malt bill, hops, water, and yeast.

Beer Primer: Scottish/Scotch (Wee Heavy) Ales
-Beer Judge Certification Program Standards for Scottish Ales (including Scotch Ales)
-All About Beer Magazine: Scottish Ales
-A History or Wee Heavy & Strong Scotch Ale
-The Shilling System

Section Timestamps:

Intro

01:00 Show Housekeeping

03:47 Jake’s Essen Picks

11:21 Kickstarter: Legends of Sleepy Hollow

13:46 KS Preview: Best Treehouse Ever: Forest of Fun!

24:12 Recent Plays: InBetween

40:41 Grey Fox Games sponsorship spot

41:32 Feature: Friedemann Friese’s Fast Forward Series

43:55 Fast Forward: Fear

49:25 Fast Forward: Fortress

54:52 Fast Forward: Flee

60:08 Fast Forward: Wrap-up

64:55 Recent Plays: Matryoshka

74:22 On Tap: Matryoshka

80:05 Beer Primer: Scottish and Scotch Ales

87:11 Outro?

88:21 Mysterious Audio

#55: Gen Con 50 Wrapup!

#55: Gen Con 50 Wrap-up!

Hey all! Episode 55 is going to be a little different! Each day during Gen Con 50, we sat down with our buds (Shane, Tamara, Steven, Dan) and talked about what we saw at the biggest con of the year (and the biggest Gen Con in history). I’ve assembled those recordings chronologically just like last year for over an hour of extra content! We really hope you enjoy our wrap-ups, and we’ll be back next Monday for another episode and a more in-depth look at some of the hottest games of the year, fresh from Gen Con 50!

#51: Sentient / Bärenpark

Draft mechanic Episode #51: Double Feature Review of Sentient and Bärenpark, Bärenpark On Tap, Medina, Fields of Arle, Stockpile, and Can Beer Really Quench Your Thirst?

News:
Mega Moose Con
BEST TREEHOUSE EVER GIVEAWAY!
Friedemann Friese's Fast Forward Series

Kickstarter:
Star Scrappers: CAVE-IN
Star Realms Frontiers

Recent Plays: 

Medina (Second Edition)
2014, Stronghold Games
Designer:  Stefan Dorra
Artist:  Eduardo Bera, Hans-Georg Schneider  

Fields of Arle   
2014, Z-Man Games
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Artist: Dennis Lohausen

Stockpile
2015, Nauvoo Games
Designers:  Brett Sobol, Seth Van Orden
Artist: Jacqui Davis, Ian O'Toole 

Double Feature Review:

Sentient
2017, Renegade Game Studios
Designer:  J. Alex Kevern
Artist: Chris Ostrowski 

Bärenpark
2013, Mayfair Games/Lookout Spiele
Designer:  Phil Walker-Harding  
Artist:  Klemens Franz 

On Tap:

Bärenpark
2013, Mayfair Games/Lookout Spiele
Designer:  Phil Walker-Harding  
Artist:  Klemens Franz 

• Catawba Brewing Company “Brown Bear Ale”; Morganton, NC, USA
  5.2% ABV, 30 IBU.
  Brown English ale.
• Off Color Brewing “Bare Bear”; Chicago, IL, USA
  7% ABV, 20 IBU.
  Finnish  style sahti brewed with rye malts and juniper berries.
• Horse & Dragon Brewing Company “Sad Panda”; Fort Collins, CO, USA
  6.8% ABV.
  Coffee Stout.
• Rhinegeist Brewery “Koala”; Cincinnati, OH, USA
  6% ABV, 50 IBU.
  Red Ale with Ella, Kohatu, and Vic Secret hops.
• Creston Brewery; Grand Rapids, MI, England
  “Polar Bear”
  4.2% ABV.
  Multigrain golden ale brewed with W. Michigan hops.
  
  “Koala Bear”
  4.2% ABV.
  Golden ale brewed with Rowster Italian coffee.
  
  “Panda Bear”
  4.9% ABV.
  American pale ale brewed with local raw honey, whole chai spices, and rooibus tea.
  
  “Pooh Bear”
  4.6% ABV.
  Pale wheat ale brewed with local raw honey and lavender.

Quenching Thirst:
Public Library of Sciences: Oral Cooling and Carbonation Increase the Perception of Drinking and Thirst Quenching in Thirsty Adults
USA Today: This beer hydrates you. No, really, it does

Goses:
-SeaQuench Ale; Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, 4.9% ABV.
-Jammer; Sixpoint Brewery, 4.0% ABV
-Key Lime Pie Gose; Westbrook Brewing Co., 4.0% ABV
-Blood Orange Gose; Anderson Valley Brewing Co., 4.2% ABV

Pilsners/Kolsches:
-Episode 46: Beer Primer - Pilsners
-Billows; Burial Beer Co., 4.9% ABV, Kolsch
-Kolsch; Schlafly, 4.8% ABV, Kolsch
-Summerfest; Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, 5.0% ABV, Pilsner
-The Crisp; Sixpoint Brewing, 5.4% ABV, Pilsner

Section Timestamps:

<p>Intro
01:00 Show Housekeeping
02:42 Con Watch: MegaMooseCon August 4th-6th!
04:04 Contest: Best Treehouse Ever!
05:42 Kickstarter: Star Scrappers Cave-In update
06:20 Kickstarter: Star Realms Frontiers
10:58 Upcoming: Fast Forward - Fear, Fortress & Flee
16:28 Recent Plays: Medina
23:15 Recent Plays: Fields of Arle
36:01 Recent Plays: Stockpile
45:01 Review: Sentient
57:41 Review: Barenpark
75:42 On Tap: Barenpark
83:27 Can beer quench your thirst?
92:08 Outro