So Very Wrong About Games

Pickaxe

A podcast about all manner of hobby games by Mike Walker and Mark Bigney. Bad games don't go easy on you, so we don't go easy on them. Thorough analysis via reviews, news, and discussion of topics in gaming. We take context seriously, we value your time, and we're not into hype. Just because games are fun doesn't mean we can't take them seriously, and just because we take them seriously doesn't mean we can't have fun.

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421 episodes
Updated July 21

Episodes421

Newest first

Jun 9, 2020 · 1 hr 5 min
#121: Aristeia!
"Please note that there are only two references to sports in this book... and both are appropriately dismissive. If you wish for sports information, might I kindly refer you to every other aspect of our culture?" -John Hodgman, "The Areas of My...
Jun 2, 2020 · 1 hr 5 min
#120: Awards
To be clear, we're not giving or receiving any awards this week--rather we're discussing their use, possible abuse, and impact on the hobby. Were we to deserve an award for this episode, though, clearly it would be for the quality and quantity of...
May 26, 2020 · 56 min
#119: Clans of Caledonia
We sometimes don't understand the appeal of food-based games, friends and neighbours. To be sure, we adore Food Chain Magnate, but that is not parasitic upon our sincere appreciation of (say) lemonade and pizza. There seem to be many games based on...
May 19, 2020 · 1 hr 13 min
#118: Digital Life After COVID
Podcasts are often a discursive medium, and so naturally we find ourselves touching on many and diverse topics. This week, we delve into poetry and Star Trek, just in case you were under the illusion that we were anything other than unreconstructed...
May 12, 2020 · 1 hr 8 min
#117: Watergate
There are so many life lessons to be learned from the presidency of Richard Milhous Nixon. For one, shave before debates. For another, hire limber secretaries with flexible standards on truth. Always be sure to hire expert lockpickers. Make sure your...
May 5, 2020 · 1 hr 8 min
#116: AP and the Need to Win
Subtitles are to be used with discretion. Some people can't be trusted with them, and most of those people seem to work in Hollywood and non-fiction publishing. We resist the urge much of the time, but every once in a while the dam bursts and we must...
Apr 28, 2020 · 1 hr 13 min
#115: Nemesis
A rulebook generates expectations, and whether and how those expectations are met or frustrated is an interesting phenomenon. Sometimes you get exactly what you want and that's a good thing--and sometimes the rules promise a set of experiences that...
Apr 21, 2020 · 1 hr 6 min
#114: De-salting Unplayed Games
“Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last. Imagine that you are doing this but that it is essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny...
Apr 14, 2020 · 57 min
#113: Undaunted: Normandy
No daunts are asked and no daunts are given this week. "I don't give a daunt" is tattooed on Walker's back, no doubt an homage to Rhett Butler's famous ending line. We needed a little breather this time--a break from two-hour epic experiences. A...
Apr 7, 2020 · 1 hr 15 min
#112: Solo Gaming
Isolation gaming continues, so we turn our lonely eyes to gaming alone--an endeavour that predates plague-induced solitude, but is certainly thriving now. Many a gamer is experimenting with those (increasingly frequent) variants for the first time. We...
Mar 31, 2020 · 1 hr 21 min
#111: MOBAs and Tainted Grail
A little throwback for you, our dear and loyal listeners, a small taste of the pre-summer schedule splendour and abundance where we spoil you with both a topic and a feature game. It happened organically, you see, what with all the social distancing...
Mar 24, 2020 · 1 hr 7 min
#110: Social Distancing
Ripped from the headlines, as Dick Wolf is wont to say, we present to you the most timely of discussions. Of course, Walker takes us down theoretical tangents once again, whereas Mark rolls his eyes and tried to keep things on track--the standard...
Mar 17, 2020 · 1 hr 15 min
#109: Omnibus Questions
All of your burning questions shall be addressed! Why is there something rather than nothing? Quid est veritas? War, huh! What is it good for? Why do birds suddenly appear every time a Knizia game is near? Rest assured that the topics covered are...
Mar 10, 2020 · 1 hr 3 min
#108: Clinic Deluxe
Warning: there is some implied discussion of the existence of the health care field in this week's review. No jokes were made about current viral events, though, and given the general low-brow nature of this podcast that's a minor miracle. The only...
Mar 3, 2020 · 52 min
#107: Playing for Second
Some of you might be unfamiliar with the traditions surrounding birthdays in Canada. They are savage affairs, drenched in blood and feats of suffering. I mean, there's the cake, sure, and that part is pretty benign--except for the baking of it, come...
Feb 25, 2020 · 1 hr 8 min
#106: Posthuman Saga
Would you like a job at Asmodee? Well guess what, if you need any replacement parts from them, you've just been drafted to work as their support staff. Best of all, your salary is nothing! Are we doomed to become ever more curmudgeonly, rambling to...
Feb 18, 2020 · 1 hr 2 min
#105: False Expectations
On must acknowledge that in many instances, pre-judgment is an adaptive advantage--I don't mean with respect to people, but in terms of being able to sift through the endless data with which we are constantly bombarded. Most of our concepts are...
Feb 13, 2020 · 1 hr 15 min
#104: On Mars
One must learn as a child that just because something is difficult does not mean it isn't worth doing. Sometimes we here at SVWAG feel that the corollary for adults is that just because something is difficult doesn't mean it is worthwhile. Some hard...
Feb 4, 2020 · 53 min
#103: Virtues of Popularity
My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious. AYURIS: Level 7 [Omega Protocol] 2m34s (Will...
Jan 28, 2020 · 1 hr 7 min
#102: Imperial 2030
Rarely has a game been as deeply, frighteningly cynical as Imperial. We are sadly inured to the notion of vast military conflicts; and we are sadly inured to the corrupting influence of enormous wealth; but never before has a game combined the two and...