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

Mar 26, 2019 · 1 hr 8 min
#61: HATE and Knowing the Deck
HATE has landed, and you can't have it. CMON's dalliances with Kickstarter exclusives have been numerous, but now they have their first Kickstarter-exclusive game. We review it not to taunt you with things you can't acquire, but rather to give you the...
Mar 19, 2019 · 1 hr 18 min
#60: XenoShyft and 1 vs. All vs. Coop vs. Semi-Coop vs. Vs.
As my father is wont to say, "Accept credit, pass blame." Actually, no, I said that, and it's my father's fault that I forgot the correct attribution. Is that how that works? At any rate, we here at SVWAG are always happy to claim responsibility for...
Mar 12, 2019 · 1 hr 21 min
#59: Concordia Venus and Spending Money on the Hobby
Currencies drive many things, perhaps most things. HATE is driven by a currency called Savagery, which I believe is floated on the international market and its exchange rate fluctuates daily. We here at So Very Wrong About Games fuel our episodes with...
Feb 26, 2019 · 1 hr 22 min
#58: A Feast for Odin: The Norwegians and Theme vs. Balance
You do you, Walker always says, except he almost never does. Mark always says smoke 'em if you got 'em, despite his never uttering those words and frankly not knowing what they mean. He tried smoking once and didn't enjoy it. Why care about such petty...
Feb 19, 2019 · 1 hr 14 min
#57: Cerebria and Hype
The Peter Principle observes that people tend to get promoted to their level of incompetence. Namely if someone does a job well, they'll be promoted, until such time as they cease doing a job well and persist at that level of ineptitude. We mention...
Feb 12, 2019 · 1 hr 9 min
#56: Core Worlds and Out of Print Games
Sometimes categories are useful taxonomical tools, and sometimes they are so blunt as to be confusing and unhelpful. What gets parsed as "worker placement" can get downright murky at times. To Walker, though, the world is clear and simple. Tolstoy...
Feb 5, 2019 · 1 hr 3 min
#55: Quartermaster General: The Cold War and Real-Time Games
Just as we are told that it's always five o'clock somewhere, we can be assured that Mark and Walker are always wrong somewhere. Time marches inexorably forward, and we mark that passage of time by checking in with the much-loved Quartermaster General...
Jan 29, 2019 · 1 hr 11 min
#54: Talon and Table Talk
Sometimes our hosts can't quite understand what the situation demands of them. Walker has been known to approach thoughtful, deliberative games with the oft-repeated demand of "when do I get to shoot LEMME SHOOT." Mark tends to greet new acquaintances...
Jan 22, 2019 · 1 hr 8 min
#53: Gloomhaven and What Can a Game Demand?
We take endorsements very seriously here at SVWAG. The Ferragamo deal fell through after Walker was seen wearing Fendi, and the whole Burberry fiasco is better left forgotten. Converse was our backup, but suffice to say after Mark's public comments...
Jan 15, 2019 · 1 hr 20 min
#52: New Frontiers and Too Many Versions
Constant vigilance is the price of audio quality, and we apologize for how badly that struggle has been going of late. Walker prostrates himself before the altar of Bars, and Bars we achieve, but the nature of those Bars have been fickle. Their shape...
Jan 8, 2019 · 1 hr 7 min
#51: Pandemic: Fall of Rome and New Year's Resolutions
Peer influence is a strange thing. For years Mark has been yelling at Walker about various ways he really ought to change, but a single board game now has Walker spewing Macross lore like he's a convert. Perhaps the authors like Erin Lee Escobedo have...
Dec 18, 2018 · 1 hr 19 min
#50: Year in Review 2018
Another round about the sun is complete, at least for those who acknowledge that sort of thing. I'm certain there must be a strand of Flat Eartherism that bows to the reality of the Earth's orbit--I could find out, but boardgaming already more than...
Dec 11, 2018 · 1 hr 8 min
#49: Crusaders and Thematic Disconnects
Players aren't the only people who make choices, of course. Designers and publishers make decisions about the setting and the theme of their games. Insofar as games can communicate a message--whether purely aesthetic or more ideological--it is...
Dec 4, 2018 · 1 hr 15 min
#48: Teotihuacan and How Far Is Too Far
As a new coping mechanism, Mark and Walker decide to expunge their deepest shameful acts of conspicuous consumption and frivolous travel by talking about it on the internet. Now that Tumblr is is divesting themselves of adult content they can't post...
Nov 27, 2018 · 1 hr 14 min
#47: Gugong and Resolving Rules Disputes
Lots of talk of economics in this week's news. One might expect a diminishing return on such talk, but as rational consumers of news we often find a deficit of such a valuable commodity. Ceteris paribus, we're willing to offer you the free lunch of...
Nov 20, 2018 · 1 hr 8 min
#46: Coimbra and Eric Lang
There's this substance that the British people deploy called "salad cream." Chemists, for decades, have tried to break down its constituent parts; but the substance's sheer viscosity--not to mention its disturbing colour and odour--have defied all...
Nov 13, 2018 · 1 hr 19 min
#45: Claustrophobia and KeyForge
What's in a name? Well, if the game is KeyForge, the name is pretty much the entire game. As we have learned from bots in the past, set an algorithm loose on the internet and it'll probably come back as a racist misogynist troll. So far we've seen...
Nov 6, 2018 · 1 hr 12 min
#44: Discover: Lands Unknown and Overused Themes
We are an easily-triggered group, we geeks, we nerds; so allow us to exercize due diligence and offer the following warnings. Spoiler Alert: we discuss what spoilers are. Meta Alert: we get pretty meta about spoilers. Existentialism Alert: Walker gets...
Oct 30, 2018 · 1 hr 12 min
#43: Stephenson's Rocket and Dealing with Frustration
We've always been here. Waiting, in this basement, yelling into the can. When we invented podcasts all those years ago it was merely as avenue for our pre-existing subterranean discourse. Now some of you have joined us, and our labours are no longer...
Oct 23, 2018 · 1 hr 15 min
#42: Battle for Rokugan and Gateway Games
Reading your audience is a hard thing, and not even just when blasting your errant opinions over the interwebs. Mark couldn't read the room when Walker requested a certain game, and that didn't end well. Walker couldn't perceive Mark's growing...