The Ascent of Board Games

Happy spooky season, everybody! It's October, which means it's time for a horror game playthrough. This time, Frank brings us Hotel Lovecraft, an audio-powered paragraph-style game from Story Master's Tales. We've trimmed the game down to make for a reasonable episode length - and we got a few rules wrong along the way, to be honest - but hopefully you'll find it entertaining! Frank and Sandi's character develops a taste for blood. (Metaphorically. (We think.)) Mike introduces us to the concept of a "comfort knife." We are all very bad at Egyptian mythology. Except Mike. Thanks as always for listening! If you have a few extra minutes, we'd love it if you could give us an iTunes review. Please leave one if you can - it helps us a lot! We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofgames on Twitter (for as long as Twitter still exists). Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there! Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ascentofgames Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/ And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved. Thank you for listening!

It's time for another game designer interview! Kyle Rowan is the lead game designer at Wyrd Games and the main brain behind last year's smash hit Vagrantsong. In addition to talking about how Vagrantsong came to be and the exciting pair of expansions coming up on Kickstarter, we discuss: The game's esoteric set of inspirations, including the works of Jack Kerouac, the comic book Harrow County, and the computer game Kentucky Route Zero. Why some people (*cough* Mike *cough*) bounce off the Runaway character. RPG discussions, including Eat the Reich and the forthcoming Blades in '68. And a (not sponsored) flashback to local barbecue that is totally Kyle's fault. If you want to hear our original take on Vagrantsong, it's in Episode 44, Part 2. And if you want to follow Kyle on "the socials," he's @rowanoake on Bluesky and The Platform Formerly Known As Twitter. As for us, we appreciate your listening as always, and would love to get an iTunes review if you have a few minutes to leave one. We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofgames on Twitter (for as long as Twitter still exists). Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there! Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ascentofgames Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/ And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved. Thank you for listening!

We're back with even more SCIENCE! The nerdery continues as we discuss more recent science-themed board games, and offer such tidbits as: "BoardGameGeek - full of lies." - Joe Streeky, 2023 A brief digression on the interior starship lighting design of Picard season 3. The cards in Space Race mix English and iconography, but for why? The overarching threat of an all-Phil Eklund episode Frank's last minute addition this month is Expedition Zetta, with space exploration plus intrigue and romance! Thanks as always for listening! If you have a few extra minutes and are willing to help us with our scientific research, we're trying to study the effects of an iTunes review on our number of listeners. Please leave one if you can! We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofgames on Twitter (for as long as Twitter still exists). Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there! Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ascentofgames Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/ And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved. Thank you for listening!

SCIENCE! It's certainly closer to our areas of expertise than sports. In fact, Mike (a science teacher) says a lot of impressive-sounding science words when discussing various games, which some of you may understand. In addition: Smog plumes! Didja ever notice that most "evolution" boardgames are actually "intelligent design" boardgames? The most terrifying game board - oh, I'm sorry, "math map" - ever. Frank says, "It's a decent game for people who like that crap." Best score track ever? Thanks as always for listening! If you have a few extra minutes and are willing to help us with our scientific research, we're trying to study the effects of an iTunes review on our number of listeners. Please leave one if you can! We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofgames on Twitter (for as long as Twitter still exists). Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there! Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ascentofgames Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/ And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved. Thank you for listening!

WARNING: This episode is cursed. We had to record it (or parts of it) no less than three times, and we still had Frank drop out unexpectedly for a few minutes. (Don't worry, he didn't say anything important.) But it's here now, and it's full of sports games! Rotisserie Baseball! Electric Football!! SO MUCH GOLF!!! Tipp-Kick, still going strong after 100 years! (Here's video of a few professional soccer players from Germany's Bundesliga having a game.) Electric Football, where plastic players slowly and erratically vibrate across the field. (There's video for this one too.) Arnold Palmer holding a golf club tipped with Arnold Palmer holding a golf club... "This is the better game, although it's unplayable..." Our first simulationist dexterity game! And one more video, just because it's ridiculous - Boccerball! Thanks as always for listning! If you have a few extra minutes and a generous heart, why not leave us an iTunes review? It really helps us find new listeners We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofgames on Twitter (for as long as Twitter still exists). Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there! Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ascentofgames Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/ And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved. Thank you for listening!

More paragraphs! More stories! More smart-assery! More great quotes like: "Yay for Finns!" "Like Tales of the Arabian Nights, but much better." (!!!) "The story is a lot more...wordful." "I'm not the final boss..." "Frank gets a point for Arc Knight Miniatures, which I don't know if we even talked about on the episode." Welcome to all of our new listeners, and welcome back to our returning friends! If you have a few extra minutes and a generous heart, why not leave us an iTunes review? It really helps us find new listeners We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofgames on Twitter as long as Twitter still exists. Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there! Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ascentofgames Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/ And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved. Thank you for listening!

To listen to our new episode, read paragraph 234. To listen to our original paragraph games episode, read paragraph 191. 234: You listen to a podcast in which: Jayson scores 3 points with a single game. Joe's discussion of Awaken Realms games becomes a meditation on time and aging Germany (and KOSMOS, specifically) steal Frank's and Brian's childhoods  We learn about "The Adventures of Robin Hood, Little John, Maid Marion, and the Other Guy" Mike underestimates the value of a light source As always, we'd love it if you took the time to write us an iTunes review, as it really helps us find new listeners We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofgames on Twitter as long as Twitter still exists. Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there! Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ascentofgames Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/ And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved. Thank you for listening!

If this is the expansion to our first expansions episode, does that make it an Expansionception? We find Joe's definition of Hell. Mike and Joe dislike the Venus Next expansion for several reasons, but mostly because they're 12 years old. Frank introduces us to The Death Book, an essential expansion which has no effect on the rules or play of the game. As always, we'd love it if you took the time to write us an iTunes review, as it really helps us find new listeners We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofgames on Twitter as long as Twitter still exists. Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there! Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ascentofgames Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/ And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved. Thank you for listening!

Hi folks! Are you enjoying our podcast? Do you want even MORE of our podcast? Good, because here's the first part of our Expansion episode, wherein we talk about the first, worst, and best game expansions in our experience. Discussions include: What was the first expansion? This thread on the Geek suggests that Frank's choice (and thus ours) may be wrong. Joe has trouble remembering the name of a spaceship that is also the name of the expansion the spaceship is in, which he's already said several times. Not only does Mike think this expansion is bad because it makes the game too hard, but it also "pushes the game over the shark." (We know what he means.) Mike believes that this BGG Top 100, Kennerspiel des Jahres-winning, multi-million-copy-selling game is "not good"...because its expansions are good? (We do NOT know what he means.) How do you like YOUR Spidicules?  Sometimes the best expansion for a game is a completely separate game (we're looking at you, Noun Noun: Noun). We introduce The Kingdom Death-Middara Game Text Quantity Spectrum. As always, we'd love it if you took the time to write us an iTunes review, as it really helps us find new listeners We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofgames on Twitter as long as Twitter still exists. Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there! Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ascentofgames Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/ And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved. Thank you for listening!

Happy New Year! Last month, we took a look back at our favorite gaming things from 2022; this month, we're talking about some of the games we're looking forward to in 2023. Contents include, but are not limited to: Jayson sounds very, very sad post-sinus surgery (but he's doing fine now, promise). Donations of giant mecha or plastic miniatures should be sent to Jayson. Donations of cash should be sent to the podcast. Brian has some serious questions for past Brian. We explore the value of self-examination in anime combat. Mike is egregiously behind on his essential videogaming requirements. Joe teaches us about the Russian fox experiment; Mike has objections. Frank names his "best computer game ever made;" Brian has objections. Jodorowsky's TRON?!? As always, we'd love it if you took the time to write us an iTunes review, as it really helps us find new listeners We'd also love to have you visit our website (although Podbean has made some recent changes to it that mean some stuff isn't in the right place at the moment) and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofgames on Twitter as long as Twitter still exists. Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there! Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ascentofgames Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/ And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved. Thank you for listening!