#13: Shakespeare

Draft Mechanic Episode #13: Shakespeare, Between Two Cities, Monikers, & Beer Festivals

This episode we take a look at recent plays of two very different games that will accommodate your large group: Between Two Cities and Monikers. We put Shakespeare on tap and give you four delicious brews to celebrate the bard and his characters. We also serve up a quick overview of the beer stats we use in our on tap segments. We round it out with a discussion of what makes a beer festival really shine.

Between Two Cities
2015, Stonemaier Games. 1-7 players. 20 minutes.
Designers: Matthew O’Malley, Morten Pedersen, Ben Rosset

Monikers: Shmonikers
2015, Palm Court/Self-published. 4-20 players. 30-60 minutes.
Designers: Alex Hague & Justin Vickers; based on pub domain game ‘Celebrity.’

Shakespeare
2015, Ystari Games. 1-4 players. 20-90 minutes.
Designers: Hervé Rigal

• New Holland “The Poet” oatmeal stout. Holland, MI.
  5.2% ABV, 37 IBU. Six packs, 12oz.
  Rich, roasty, oaty, and sweet.
   
• North Coast “Puck, the Beer” Petite saison.
  4.0% ABV, 27 IBU. Four-pack 12oz.
  Named after the woodland spirit believed to help or hinder brewing in medieval times!
   
• Omnipollo “Bianca” Mango lassi gose. Stockholm, Sweden.
  6.0% ABV, 22oz bomber.
  Gose brewed with rock salt, lactose, and mango purée. A mango lassi gose that is fruity but still salty.
   
• Rogue Ales & Spirits “Shakespeare” Oatmeal stout. Newport, OR.
  5.7% ABV, 60 IBU. 12oz bottles.
  Chocolate malts, earthy and bitter but mellow and smooth.

Section timecodes

01:00 In the news!

06:00 Splendor on iOS

10:14 Between Two Cities

16:26 Monikers

22:27 About beer stats

28:09 On Tap: Shakespeare

46:00 Beer Festival Wishlist

60:05 Outro

#11: 2015 Year in Review

Draft Mechanic Episode 11: 2015, A Year in Review

Happy new year! As is tradition, starting off a new year requires an introspective look back at the year that was. We have eight superlative categories to discuss, and then each of us has assembled a ‘mixer-sixer’ of six great new beers from 2015 as well as a mixer of top games of 2015! Yes, you heard that right - that’s FORTY overall selections! What a deal! 2015 was definitely a big year and there’s a lot to talk about, let’s get to it!

Best art, design, or components:
Jake: Mysterium. Asmodee. Oleksandr Nevskiy & Oleg Sidorenko.
Danielle: The Bloody Inn. Pearl Games/ REBEL.pl. Nicholas Robert.

Most innovative game:
Jake & Danielle: 504. 2F-Spiele / Stronghold Games. Friedmann Friese.

Best party game:
Jake: Two Rooms and a Boom. Tuesday Knight Games. Alan Gerdin & Sean McCoy.
Danielle: Codenames. Czech Games Edition. Vlaada Chvatil.

Biggest game disappointment:
Jake: World of SMOG: On Her Majesty's Service. Cool Mini or Not. Yohann Lemonier.
Danielle: Penny Press. Asmadi Games. Robert Dulkes & Matt Golec.

Game I wish I'd gotten to play:
Jake: Elysium. Space Cowboys/Asmodee. Matthew Dunstan & Brett J Gilbert.
Danielle: 7 Wonders: Duel. Repos Productions. Antoine Bauza & Bruno Cathala.

Game I wish I'd played more of in 2015:
Jake: La Granja. Spielworxx/Stronghold Games. Michael Keller & Andreas Odendahl.
Danielle: Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn. Plaid Hat Games. Isaac Vega.

Bonus Categories:
Best Gaming Environment: Empire Board Game Library in Albuquerque, NM
Best "Fast Food" Game: Dead Man's Draw. Mayday Games/Stardock Entertainment. Derek Paxton, Leo Li, & Chris Bray.
Best Beer Visual Presentation: Burial Beer Co. Moon Series. Asheville, NC.

Favorite Beers of 2015: Mix-a-Sixpack

Jake:

• Burial Beer Co. “Shadowclock” pilsner. Asheville, NC. 5.9% ABV.
• Taft’s Ale House “Nellie’s Keylime” cream ale. Cincinatti, OH. 4.8% ABV, 19 IBU.
• Revolution Brewing Company “Fist City” Pale ale. Chicago, IL. 5.5% ABV, 40 IBU.
• NoDa Brewing Company “Par 4” session IPA. Charlotte, NC. 4.0% ABV, 65 IBU.
• Night Shift Brewing “Awake” coffee porter. Everett, MA. 6.7% ABV.
• Wicked Weed Brewing “Dark Arts (Espresso)” sour imperial stout. Asheville, NC. 15% ABV.

Danielle:

• Night Shift Brewing “Maracuya” sour ale w/passionfruit. Everett, MA. 5.6% ABV.
• Grimm Artisanal Ales “Rainbow in Curved Air” Tart saison. Brooklyn, NY. 5% ABV.
• Burial Beer Co. “ The Keeper’s Veil” honey saison. Asheville, NC. 5.4% ABV, 12 IBU.
• Canteen Brewhouse “Cherry Blossom Wheat” hefe. Albuquerque, NM. 4.0% ABV.
• Wooden Robot Brewery “Good Morning Vietnam” coffee blonde. Charlotte, NC. 6.0% ABV.
• Kane Brewing Company “Mexican Brunch” spiced imp. milk porter. Ocean, NJ. 9.2% ABV.

Favorite Games of 2015: Mix-a-Sixpack

Jake: Specter Ops. Plaid Hat Games/Nazca games. Emerson Matsuuchi.
Danielle: Mottainai. Asmadi Games. Carl Chudyk. 

Jake: New Dawn. Artipia Games/ Stronghold Games. Konstantinos Kokkinis & Sotirios Tsantilas.
Danielle: Discoveries. Ludonaute. Cédrick Chaboussit.

Jake: Roll for the Galaxy. Rio Grande Games. Wei-Hwa Huang & Thomas Lehmann.
Danielle: Among the Stars: Revival. Artipia Games/Stronghold Games. Vangelis Bagiartakis & Panagiotis Zinoviadis.

Mysterium. Asmodee. Oleksandr Nevskiy & Oleg Sidorenko.

Codenames. Czech Games Edition. Vlaada Chvatil.

T.I.M.E. Stories. Space Cowboys/Asmodee. Manuel Rozoy.

Intro
01:28 A year in review for Draft Mechanic, and plans for 2016
04:45 2015 Superlative categories
06:26 Top news stories of 2015
10:50 Best Art Design & Components
14:01 Most Innovative Game Design
16:36 Best Party Game
20:34 Biggest Game Disappointment
23:48 Game I wish I’d played in 2015
25:38 Games we wish we’d played more
30:10 Our own personal superlatives
35:53 Mixer-sixer: Favorite Beers of 2015
56:50 Mixer-sixer: Favorite Games of 2015
86:35 Transmission Interrupted

#10: Mysterium

Draft Mechanic Episode 10: Mysterium on Tap, Patchwork, Babel, Euphoria, Deception, Nations, Buyouts & Mergers

It’s the last episode of 2015! Over the Christmas break we visited Empire Board Game Library in Albuquerque NM and raided their shelves for gaming goodness. We dug into the two-player battlefields of Patchwork and Babel,  and then displaced some workers in the land of Euphoria. On a second visit, we stretched our lying and deduction muscles with the Dukes of Dice with a few rounds of Deception: Murder in Hong Kong. Finally, we stood the test of time with a mammoth five-player game of Nations. Our game on tap this episode is Mysterium, and we’ve got four spectral brews to help you glean understanding from the other side. Finally - 2015 has been a year of buyouts and mergers in both the game and beer industry - we dig deep into the parallels and differences and discuss whether or not we should be scared of Big Beer and Big Game.

Intro
02:15 Empire Board Game Library in Albuquerque, NM
07:26 Patchwork
13:20 Babel
20:08 Euphoria
32:55 Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
41:51 Nations
49:29 Game on tap: Mysterium
56:47 Buyouts and Mergers in the beer and game worlds

Check out the AB InBev presentation we referred to here.

Our on tap picks for Mysterium:

Three Taverns Brewing “Departed Spirit” BBA Belgian Imperial Stout. Atlanta, GA.
    11% ABV, 60 IBU.
    8-yr bourbon barrel aged. Bourbon, vanilla, thick and boozy.
NoDa Brewing “Ghost Hop” white IPA. Charlotte, NC.
    5.9% ABV, 70 IBU.
    NW Amarillo & Centennial hops, Belgian wit yeast.
Fantome “Fantome de Noel” saison. Belgium.
    10% ABV.
DuClaw “Mysterium” spiced Belgian. Baltimore, MD.
    4.8% ABV, 21 IBU.
    Spiced amber Belgian ale,candy sugar, chamomile, grains of paradise, cardamom.

#09: Steam Park

Draft Mechanic Episode 9: Among the Stars, Steam Park, Mottainai, Two Rooms and a Boom, Holiday beer roundup

It’s December and we’re running out of year! Coincidentally, the president desperately needs to find the doctor before the clock runs out - yes, it’s Two Rooms and a Boom. Pow! Not your kind of vibe? How about a monk crafting works for their gift shop? Yes, we’ve got Mottainai too. Jake dives into his favorite gaming universe - and loses spectacularly - with our six-pack review of Among The Stars: Revival! And then we choose some fitting beer pairings for 2013’s big hit from iello, Steam Park. We round out this episode with a run-through of over a dozen great holiday beers you can share to spread that holiday cheer. So sit back, relax, grab a pint and enjoy the show!

Intro
01:00 Two Rooms and a Boom
11:52 Mottainai
20:00 Six pack review: Among The Stars: Revival
43:30 On Tap: Steam Park
57:00 Holiday beer roundup

Steam Park beer choices:

Anchor Brewing “Anchor Steam” California Common. San Francisco CA.
    4.9% ABV.
Malt-forward, biscuity with some sulpher & caramel scents. Steam was the term used for west coast beers brewed without ice. 
Forgotten Boardwalk “Funnel Cake” cream ale. Cherry Hill, NJ.
    5.5% ABV, 25 IBU.
    Made with lactose and real Madagascar vanilla beans. Best on Nitro. SO good on Nitro.
Wooden Robot “Good Morning Vietnam” Blonde Ale. Charlotte, NC.
    5.0% ABV
    Coffee vanilla blonde.
Coney Island Brewing “Hard Root Beer” Root Beer. Brooklyn, NY.
    5.8% ABV
Hints of vanilla, licorice, and birch. Realistically it tastes like root beer. You don’t need me to explain what root beer tastes like.
Oskar Blues Brewery “Ten Fidy” Imperial Stout. Longmont, CO.
    10.5% ABV, 98 IBU
Motor oil. Chocolate- covered caramel & coffee. Super viscous.

Holiday Beer Roundup selections:

Stone Brewing Co Xocoveza For the Holidays & the New Year (Spiced Mocha Milk Stout)
Shmaltz Brewing Company He’brew Hanukkah, Chanukah (Dark Ale, not brewed with spices)
Southern Tier  Krampus (Imperial Helles Lager)
Prairie Artisan Ales  Christmas Bomb! (Imperial Stout w/cinnamon, ginger & nutmeg)
Defiant Brewing Co.  Christmas Ale (Winter Ale)
Spoetzl Brewery Shiner Holiday Cheer (Dunkelweizen w/peaches & pecans)
Green Man Brewery Holly King (Winter Warmer, Barrel Aged 9 months)
Howard Brewing Company Mistletoe ( Porter aged on Raspberries in Apple Brandy Barrels)
Troegs Independent Brewing Mad Elf (Belgian Strong Dark w/Cherries, Honey & Choc malts)
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery Gingerbread Stout (Milk stout brewed w/honey & ginger)
Port Brewing Company Santa’s Little Helper (Imperial stout)
Mother Earth Brewing Silent Night (Imperial Stout)
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant Rudolph’s Revenge (American Triple)
Great Lakes Brewing Company Christmas Ale (Winter ale w/honey, ginger & cinnamon)
Spiteful Brewing Jingle Balls (Winter ale w/ginger, nutmeg & cinnamon sticks)
The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery Yule Bock (Christmas Bock)