109 (BG) - LEGEND OF THE FOUR KINGS

Board Games & Tabletop: Pawel has insisted on having his annual RPG slot, so we let him talk about the latest edition of Legend of the Five Rings by Fantasy Flight for a good chunk. Next up is the proper gaming section for proper people, where we enjoy the new deckbuilder Hand of Fate: Ordeals by Hand & Make, which is based on the video game of playing a deadly game of card-based adventure against the Dealer. Finally, Chris and Euan have gone back to a classic as they introduced a new board gamer to the archaeological fun that is Thebes by Queen Games, with its interesting time-spending mechanic. Gotta dig up the dirt! Enjoy!

Legend of the Five Rings (04:49)

Hand of Fate: Ordeals (25:36)

Thebes (45:04)

This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Pawel Daruk

Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria

This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty

Logo by Rebecca Horner

104 (VG) - 95 TON NOSTALGIA

It's the final episode of 2018, and video games are on the festive menu. Pawel spins a yarn about the high risk nature of future capitalism in Battletech, Dave tells a topical tale of the difficulties unifying a divided land in Reigns: Game of Thrones, and Chris happily delves back into the past, reliving his childhood in Road Redemption.

Battletech (05:18)

Christmas themed games chat (21:00)

Reigns: Game of Thrones (27:34)

Road Redemption (38:58)

This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary

Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria

This episode recorded and produced by Dave McCreary

103 (BG) - NON-REGULATION POGS

It's the final board games episode of 2018! The team have finally got their hands on Dinosaur Island, and give it a good in-depth review in which we ask: is it Dinosaury enough? We've also played a couple of older games, starting with K2, the mountain climbing game which has caused some grumbles in climbing circles, and Dixit, the party game with the weird and wonderful card art. Enjoy!

Dinosaur Island (01:45)

K2 (40:15)

Dixit (59:22)

This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, and Dave McCreary

Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria

This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty

102 (VG) - STAGECOACH DRIVEBY

It's more video games chat this week, as Chris, Pawel and Dave talk about what there is to actually do in Red Dead Redemption 2's online beta, Dave gives possibly the shortest (and most obscure) review we've ever done for Burly Men at Sea, Pawel takes in cyberpunk Metroidvania game Ghost 1.0, and Chris has found a roguelite with an RTS twist in Renowned Explorers: International Society. But which bands are these games most like? Enjoy!

Red Dead Redemption 2 Online (02:24)

Burly Men at Sea (21:18)

Ghost 1.0 (25:40)

Renowned Explorers: International Society (47:05)

This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary

Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria

This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty

101 (VG) - PARTYING 'TIL DAWN

Euan and Pawel are in recovery after the madness of Episode 100, so Chris and Dave have a more relaxed chat about their experiences with Red Dead Redemption 2 and Fallout 76, and also give a quick round up of how the new theme tune came to be and who played what! Enjoy!

Red Dead Redemption 2 (01:25)

Fallout 76 (38:15)

New theme tune chat (68:45)

This episode hosted by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary

Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria

This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty

100 - FIFTY YEARS

It's 2065, and the team have decided to take a look back at fifty years in the gaming podcast business, sharing their favourite memories from the past. Warning: This episode contains extreme amounts of bullshit. And also a new theme tune. Enjoy!

Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary

Music by the hosts, with Jokin Etxeberria

This episode recorded and produced by Chris Hanratty

099 (BG) - THE BIG FLAKE

It's the final tabletop episode before the Episode 100 Special! This week, we give Pawel more reasons to never play RPGs with the rest of us, before letting him delve into his latest Kickstarter acquisition Deep Madness, a co-op sci-fi board game with a Lovecraftian twist. We then have some fun by revisiting a couple of older games, the robot-programming chaos of RoboRally, and the co-operative superhero card game Sentinels of the Multiverse. Enjoy! (Your loincloth has perished.)

Deep Madness (09:43)

RoboRally (35:33)

Sentinels of the Multiverse (51:56)

Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Euan Glasgow, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary

Music by Euan Glasgow

This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty and Dave McCreary

098 (VG) - YOU'RE PLAYING IT WRONG

In the final pre-100 video games episode, Chris, Dave and Pawel compare Steam library play times, which brings us to a discussion about Pawel's ludicrous amount of time playing EVE Online completely differently from anyone else. Elsewhere, Dave has had a quick play of Red Dead Redemption 2 and has some controversial thoughts about modern gaming. Chris gives a short update on Pathfinder: Kingmaker, asks Pawel a question about Shenmue, then talks about The Bridge, a puzzle game enspired by the scribblings of MC Escher. Finally, Dave goes to his happy place as he has his own mini Retro Games Book Club with Ring of Red from the year 2000. Enjoy!

EVE Online (09:50)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (28:10)

Pathfinder: Kingmaker (40:20)

Shenmue (41:38)

The Bridge (43:58)

Ring of Red (50:50)

Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary

Music by Euan Glasgow

This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty

097 (VG) - ESPIONAGE SOAP

In this week's video game episode, Chris talks about Pathfinder: Kingmaker, the classic-style RPG which is set in the Pathfinder universe; Dave has been playing Metal Gear Solid V and wants to tell us all about how the MGS series of games were made for him; and Pawel has played Ruiner, a top-down cyberpunk twin-stick pole-bashing bullet hell! Enjoy!

Pathfinder: Kingmaker (04:18)

Metal Gear Solid V (26:00)

Ruiner (56:34)

Hosted by Chris Hanratty, Pawel Daruk, and Dave McCreary

Music by Euan Glasgow

This episode recorded and edited by Chris Hanratty

071 - GAMES ARE FOR EVERYONE

In the last episode of 2017 Chris, Euan, Pawel and Dave are talking video games, with Pawel playing through Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Euan taking on Streets of Rogue, and Dave playing the weirdly difficult Metroidvania game Hollow Knight! Also in this episode, we talk about our recent attendance of Games Are For Everyone in Edinburgh, a gaming event run by We Throw Switches, where Chris, Euan and Dave played some excellent, some weird, and some just plain arty games including Reigns: Her Majesty, Phogs, Virtua Walker 87, Line Wobbler, Muddledash, and more! Enjoy!

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice: 1:33

Streets of Rogue: 17:20

Hollow Knight: 28:27

Games Are For Everyone: 40:47

070 - THE ACCIDENTAL RIO GRANDE EPISODE

Pawel has returned from his Japan trip, and Chris, Euan and Dave spend a good ten minutes grilling him about it while Pawel gives them capsule toy souvenirs (live unboxing, folks!). It's then straight on to the board games, as the lads have accidentally had a very Rio Grande Sunday at the weekend, with plays of some classic Euros which they'll tell you all about: Princes of Florence, Attika, and Stone Age! Enjoy!

Princes of Florence: 12:22

Attika: 36:27

Stone Age: 49:22

Note: The next board games/tabletop episode will be in January, as we will be taking our usual Christmas/New Year break after the next video games episode, which should be out next week. Cheers!

068 - A NUMBER OF VIKINGS

We are finally back with a tabletop episode, this time playing something a bit unusual for us with the area control/wargame 878 Vikings: Invasions of England, and then having a bit of silly (but thematic) fun with the disc-flicking dungeon crawling game Catacombs! Enjoy!

878 Vikings: 04:05

Catacombs: 37:24

067 - HORNED RATS & ANNOYING ORCS

Euan takes over hosting duties for this video games episode as Chris is feeling a bit under the weather (not drunk), which starts with him verbally wandering on his continued journey through 90s gaming with Fallout, and a little bit about Command & Conquer. Pawel then talks us through Warhammer: Total War 2, the latest instalment in the planned trilogy. Also, Chris gives his dying throat a workout by taking us through the cosmetic changes to Fortnite's Battle Royale, before talking about the good and bad bits of Middle-earth: Shadow of War, and finishes up with a quick chat about ridiculously difficult platformer Cuphead. Enjoy!

Fallout: 02:01

Total War: Warhammer 2: 09:45

Fortnite Battle Royale: 29:28

Shadow of War: 38:26

Cuphead: 49:03

066 - PATHFINDER: THE CHRONICLES OF BOBBY TREETOPS

This week, in a departure from our usual format, we hand the episode over entirely to our Pathfinder roleplaying campaign, in which we talk about what Pathfinder is, the characters and stories in our campaign, and have a good old chat about the wonderful world of roleplaying in general, from the perspective of both new (Chris and Euan) and experienced players (Pawel, RPG maestro extraordinaire). This episode begins with a dramatic reading from the journal of Euan's character, Bobby Treetops, the elf sailor. He's some lad. Enjoy!

065 - MEAT'S BACK ON THE MENU

We have a belter of an episode this week as Pawel admits defeat and gets stuck right in to Divinity: Original Sin 2, Chris tries not to spoil the interactive video-based game Her Story, Euan goes back to the 90s and plays the original Fallout, and Chris gives a quick overview of his first couple of hours in Middle-earth: Shadow of War. Enjoy!

Divinity: Original Sin 2: 01:40

Her Story: 22:30

Fallout: 34:30

Middle-earth: Shadow of War: 50:50

064 - RAGING SPIRITS FORGING DICE

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We're back with another tabletop games episode, this time talking about two board games with gorgeous artwork: Dice Forge, in which the players are constantly changing the physical faces of their dice to suit their needs and strategy, and Spirit Island, a fully co-operative game of angry gods and spirits (the players) who are repelling foreign invaders from colonising their lands. Enjoy!

Dice Forge: 02:30

Spirit Island: 25:45

063 - BUCKET HELMET ARMY

This week's video games episode finds Chris in his happy place as he shows Divinity: Original Sin 2 a whole lot of love while arguing with Pawel about what a Fantasy RPG is. Meanwhile, Pawel has been playing Echo (not Ecco), a stealth game in which the AI learns how to beat you from observing your choices and behaviour. Also this week Chris and Dave have a bit to say about Starbound and its excellent balance of relaxing base building and exploration of alien planets. Enjoy!

Divinity: Original Sin 2: 03:34

Echo: 29:40

Starbound: 45:20

061 - ONE GAME, EVERY GAME

Chris, Euan, Pawel, and Dave kick off by opening the mailbag for the first time, as an annoyed listener manages to sneak in a review of Uncharted 4. The proper gaming chat starts with Destiny 2, as Pawel skives work to play a video game again, and Chris attempts to tackle Fortnite, a game which is trying to be a lot of things at once (and basically succeeding). Also, Euan manages to squeeze in a quick talk about PS2 game Shadow of Memories (aka Shadow of Destiny), a weird time-travelling game of yesteryear. Enjoy!

Destiny 2: 07:14

Fortnite: 25:58

Shadow of Memories/Destiny: 52:05

058 - HEALTH TRUMPS MANA

Chris and Euan are on their lonesome for this week's board games episode, which covers a couple of games that they've enjoyed for a few years now, starting with Mage Wars, a deckbuilding mage-battling game with a huge difference in that all your cards and abilities are available to you from the off. They then go back to Xia: Legends of a Drift System, the sci-fi sandbox game of customisable ships battering around a dangerous galaxy, and have a look at the new expansion for it, Embers of a Forsaken Star, and all the delights that it adds. Enjoy!

Mage Wars: 2:33

Xia: Embers of a Forsaken Star: 29:47

057 - ONE-EYED HONEY MONSTER

This week's video games episode begins with looking up Pawel's name on Urban Dictionary for kicks, before the lads actually start talking about some video games, starting with a very brief return to Neon Chrome and then a much, much longer chat about another roguelike, Unexplored, which Chris has been enjoying immensely. Euan then goes back a good few years to talk about Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, in anticipation of a new Call of Cthulhu game being released later this year. Pawel brings us forward into the 2010s (or is it back to the 1940s?) as he chats about the RTS game Company of Heroes 2, set on the Eastern Front during World War 2, before Chris has some silly fun with one-vs-many horror survival game Friday the 13th: The Game. Enjoy!

Unexplored/Neon Chrome: 5:04

Call of Cthulhu: 23:40

Company of Heroes 2: 35:00

Friday the 13th: 47:03