SNR Monthly Round-up: Diamonds & Aliens Are This Girl's Best Friends
Published 19 days agoΒ β’Β 3 min read
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Monthly Round-up
I sold a bunch of games this month and freed up a bunch of space in my board game "barn". It's slowly but surely getting more and more organized each day. Of course, I had to help other gamers free up space on their shelves, so I picked up a few goodies on the Strategicon VFM β see the two shelves below. I can't wait to play all of these!!
Dragons Down is a super cool adventure game that's heavily inspired by an out-of-print grail game for many β Magic Realm. In this episode, Scott DeMers tells the fantastic story of the birth of Dragons Down. I'm biased, but I think it's worth hearing. Plus, he's a super cool dude. I really enjoyed chatting with him.
A COIN for Your Thoughts...
I recorded a very special 75th episode of the BGG Podcast with two awesome fellas I deeply admire β Joel Eddy (Drive Thru Games) and Rodney Smith (Watch It Played). This is the first (and perhaps only) episode where I had more than one guest co-host on with me. Even though we're all in different parts of the world, it really felt like we were good friends hangin' out for the first time in a while, gushing over one of our favorite historical game series.
Sheesh, I'm realizing August was an epic month for the podcast...because episode 76 was super fun to record as well! Prolific board game illustrator Kwanchai Moriya came over to hang with me, play games, annnnddd I got to pick his brain when we recorded. We talked about his favorite games, and board game art he loves from other illustrators. Kwanchai is an absolute delight to hang and game with, plus he's sooo talented. For real. If you don't believe me, just look at the Apiary box cover art. Sick!
After Kwanchai and I recorded episode 76, my friend Ben came over to game with us. We played Diamonds Club, an old hidden "gem" I recently acquired. It came out way back in 2008, and to my knowledge, it was only released in Germany (Thanks to the previous owner for including printed English rules!). I'll spare you from hearing how much we all enjoyed it considering it's incredibly hard to find at a decent price. ...also, the box cover just says it all.
Which celebrity dopplegangers do you see?
We were all thirsty for gems...THIRSTY.
Game of the Month π²
Nemesis: Retaliation
I finally played my first game of Nemesis: Retaliation after painting some of the intruders and getting 'er all sleeved and organized with an insert. It's awesome! If the OG Nemesis wasAlien...Retaliation is for sure, Aliens. It's a semi-cooperative game where you're working with other players to achieve a mission that's especially challenging because of the crazy onslaught of aliens you have to deal with...and the risk of suffocating. The rules seem a bit more challenging than OG Nemesis, but that might change after I get a few more games under my belt. I can't wait to play it more!!
I don't recall how this British indie rock band (English Teacher) fell on my radar, but I've been really diggin' their debut album. It's a bit moody, but in a good way. It's a bit punk rock. It's a bit dreamy. They really explore a variety of tones/sounds and time signatures. Plus, the vocalist has a great singing voice and some solid spoken word moments. This whole album gets more rewarding with each listen.
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Rivals of Rock Status Check πΈ
No updates to report on the RoR front. The artist is tied up with a project that needs to go to production ASAP, so we're still in art/icon limbo.
Since I skipped Gen Con this year, I'm itchin' to get back on the road for a few end-of-year game conventions in October and November, starting with my first BGG@SEA cruise. Each attendee gets to choose two games from the BGG Library to be available on the cruise. Decisions, decisions...
Thanks for reading Squawk 'N' Roll: Monthly Round-up!
