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