Vox Republica: Podcast Of The Cardboard Republic

Episode 067: Gaming Predictions For 2015 2015 lies before us. Join us as we offer our predictions on what the year holds for the gaming hobby! Length: 28:01 Show Links: RSS | iTunes | Download Episode   Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We post new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. The end of the one year means the beginning of another, and there's no time to predict the future quite like the present! Like every field, board games have their share of trends, fads, advancements and setbacks. This week, we dive headlong into some of the things we think are in store for the hobby. From the role of Kickstarter to which mechanics will rise and fall, we offer our predictions on gaming in 2015.*   *We were going to include "More Munchkin clones" as a prediction, but that's about guaranteed as the sun rising at this point. So, you know...   We’d love to hear from you! You can send questions or feedback via email at podcast@cardboardrepublic.com.

Episode 066: 2014 Games of the Year Come join us as we announce our picks of the best game of the year for each gamer archetype! Length: 32:06 Show Links: RSS | iTunes | Download Episode   Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We post new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. The end of the year approaches, and that can only mean one thing - Game of the Year announcements!  (Really, it's practically compulsory for people in our positions.) Yes, with 2014 winding to a close soon, we take the time to look back at the games of 2014. However, rather than do a simple top 10 list like we've done previously, this year we're taking a different approach. One that is more in line with our site philosophy. So pull up a chair as we discuss the top games for each of the gamer archetypes: Architects, Tacticians, Socializers, Daredevils, Immersionists, and Strikers. If you aren't sure which type that best describes you, don't worry; we'll explain a bit in the

Episode 065: Licensed RPGs Length: 31:59 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We post new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. It's one thing to pull your sword defiantly from your scabbard and face down a band of orcs in your friend's latest D&D setting, but it's a different experience entirely when that gritty scene is actually happening in Middle Earth. That is the allure of licensed RPGs. Licensed intellectual property games are nothing new in the tabletop world, and they continue to exist alongside the ever-growing original RPG settings. Whether it's the X-Files, Doctor Who, Firefly, Star Trek, or a fan-created version of almost any TV show, movie, comic book, or literary setting that generates enough gamer interest, licensed RPGs continue to be part of our collective gaming consciousness. What does it take to be a successful licensed RPG, though? Are they any better or worse than more original settings? And

Episode 064: Rules Tutorial Length: 23:05 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We post new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. From the simplest Roll and Move classcs through marathon sessions of Twilight Imperium, every game comes with some degree of rules to them. Some games can be explained in minutes, while for others take so long you made need a cup of coffee to go with them.  How rules are crafted, then, and how they are conveyed to players new and old is pivotal to both understanding and enjoying the game in front of you. This week, Ryan offers some tips for explaining game rules to new and experienced gamers alike. Whether it's sample turns, using tutorial videos like Watch it Played, or even just sitting in front of your players and explaining the rules in detail, we find out: is there a best method? And how should you proceed?     We’d love to hear from you! You can send questions or feedback via email at 

Episode 063: In-Flight Repairs Length: 29:26 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We post new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. In the world of tabletop gaming, not all RPGs are created equal. For every fantastic and insightful system, there are a dozen with glaring issues of one kind or another. Are the mechanics off? Is the worldview too disjointed? How do you handle blatant balance issues? And do these issues mean that any game with flaws is not worth your time? Well, we're about to find out! Dave joins us this week to discuss bad RPG rules and how to handle them.     We’d love to hear from you! You can send questions or feedback via email at podcast@cardboardrepublic.com. You can also reach us social media, including Twitter and BoardGameGeek.   Audio Credits: Intro music track is "8-Bit Brawl" by DJ Cutman featuring S&CO., used with permission.

Episode 062: TEK Takeover! Length: 32:02 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We post new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. Whether it's a temporary coup or a well deserved respite, we won't say, but in any case, this episode has Ryan filling in as the host. He didn't take the task lightly either - he planned a full TEK Takeover! With him this week to discuss our November Indie Spotlight game Tiny Epic Kingdoms are none other than designer Scott Almes and Gamelyn Games publisher Michael Coe. They talk of things big in small in the Tiny Epic and Gamelyn universes. Tune in to hear what's in store!   We’d love to hear from you! You can send questions or feedback via email at podcast@cardboardrepublic.com. You can also reach us social media, including Twitter and BoardGameGeek.   Audio Credits: Intro music track is "8-Bit Brawl" by DJ Cutman featuring S&CO., used with permission.

Episode 061: Unconventional RPG Materials Length: 27:04 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We post new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. Did you know that RPGs exist that use other materials to tell stories other than dice? Lately, especially among the indie tabletop community, games have started to creep up that break the traditional RPG mold that we know so well. This week Dave and I dive into some of those, including Dread, Project Dark, and more. Then, Ryan and I discuss our site's impending anniversary. We're now officially two years old! Woo! Go us. And thanks for listening!   We’d love to hear from you! You can send questions or feedback via email at podcast@cardboardrepublic.com. You can also reach us social media, including Twitter and BoardGameGeek.   Audio Credits: Intro music track is "8-Bit Brawl" by DJ Cutman featuring S&CO., used with permission.

Episode 060: Gaming in Mainstream Media Length: 32:06 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We post new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. First off, we wanted to thank everyone who participated in our (or anyone's Extra Life events of the previous weekend. A lot of money was raised for a good cause! In this week's episode, we dive into the idea of board gaming coverage in mainstream media. Whether it's the NY Times or The Guardian, articles from more widespread organizations about board games are on the rise. Yet do they really get to the heart of the hobby? Are they accurate in their depictions of gamers, and are those assessments fair? We discuss a host of reasons that, while this overall is a good thing, we still have a ways to go to see widespread appreciation in major media forms. Oh, and we may have slid in mention of the free edX class on game design that just started up.   We’d love to hear from you! You ca

Episode 059: Fresco Big Box Variations Length: 29:24 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We post new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. First up this week, we wanted to point out (like so many others) that this weekend is the annual Extra Life charity gaming marathon, and yes, we will be partaking in the events as well. Click here to find out more. If you'd like to help out our modest efforts this time around, then be sure to consider a donation. We'll be giving a couple small games away to those who do too, so it's win win all around. Also, be sure to check out #StarDrive14 for Ryan's Star Realms themed donation challenge. Then, we dive into a reader-inspired question about the different ways to enjoy the Fresco Big Box expansions. Which expansions are good for a family pacing? What about a more strategy gamer setting? So, we're offering up some suggestions.   We’d love to hear from you! You can send questions or

Episode 058: White Wolf & Onyx Path Length: 35:09 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We post new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. If Dungeons & Dragons is the middle-aged adult of the RPG world, then White Wolf Publishing was its long-suffering teenage emo child who went through some really awkward years and then reinvented themselves the following decade as the slightly more grown up Onyx Path Publishing. We dive into the World of Darkness and the New World of Darkness. (And yes, there is a big difference.)  Join us, as we have Dave on to chat about Vampire, Werewolf, Wraith, Mage, Demon, and all the other things that go bump in the night over twenty years of the World of Darkness.    We’d love to hear from you! Please leave feedback via email at podcast@cardboardrepublic.com. You can also reach us social media, including Twitter and BoardGameGeek.   Audio Credits: Intro music track is "8-Bit Brawl" by

Episode 057: D&D Settings Guide Length: 33:53 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We post new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. Dungeons & Dragons. Yep. We're talking about it again. Because it's just that impacting on the roleplaying genre. With a game that's been around for decades, campaigns large and small have graced countless gaming tables. Some of these stories came out of the imaginations of your local GMs, and some came from large-scale settings. We decide to look at the latter. To that end, we have have Dave on to first chat about the "Big Three" of iconic settings: Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, and Dragonlance.  Then he mentions some of his personal D&D favorite settings, such as Ravenloft, Eberron, Planescape, and Spelljammer, and we ponder if any of them beyond Forgotten Realms will ever see new life in 5th Edition...     We’d love to hear from you! Please leave feedback via email at podcas

Episode 056: Getting Into A CCG Length: 30:30 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We post new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. Collectible Card Games, or CCGs, tend to be a polarizing aspect of gaming culture, though many players have had experience with them at some point. Some, like our guest Ryan, has had them be an integral part of their gaming portfolio, while others have never touched them at all. We talk with Ryan about CCG - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Are they worth getting into? What are the traps to be careful of? And are they ultimately worth it? Here's what he has to say.   For this week's gaming bulletin, check out our Crowdfunding Corner.   We’d love to hear from you! Please leave feedback via email at podcast@cardboardrepublic.com. You can also reach us social media, including Twitter and BoardGameGeek.   Audio Credits: Intro music track is "8-Bit Brawl" by DJ Cutman featuring S&CO., use

Episode 055: Worker Placement Longevity Length: 28:38 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We post new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. Worker Placement games have exploded in recent years, and they don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Is that good for the hobby? We explore the positives and negatives of this uptick of the worker placement mechanic, including why they originated the way they did, how they diversify themselves in the market of today, and what the future may hold for it.   For this week's gaming bulletin, check out our Crowdfunding Corner.   We’d love to hear from you! Please leave feedback via email at podcast@cardboardrepublic.com. You can also reach us social media, including Twitter and BoardGameGeek.   Audio Credits: Intro music track is "8-Bit Brawl" by DJ Cutman featuring S&CO., used with permission.

Episode 054: Glenn Given & BFIG 2014 Length: 35:40 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We’re back at posting new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. From one convention to the next! This week we have on Glenn Given, a designer of Games by Play Date and the Tabletop Coordinator for the upcoming Boston Festival of Indie Games 2014. He shares with us a number of changes that are coming to BFIG this year, his team's criteria on how they selected this year's entries, and his thoughts on some of the over forty indie games people will be able to stop and check out in the very near future! Well, that, and we sort of go on a tangent about digital video games, philosophy, the video game Majestic, and snowmobiles. It all ties in together, we swear!   For this week's gaming bulletin, check out our Crowdfunding Corner.   We’d love to hear from you! Please leave feedback via email at podcast@cardboardrepublic.com. You can a

Episode 053: Gen Con 2014 Recap Length: 47:28 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We’re back at posting new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. Gen Con 2014 has come and gone. We have returned to the real world, caught up on some sleep, and are already looking forward to the next thing around the corner.  We couldn't possibly include all of what we experienced in one podcast, however. Instead Ryan put together an incredibly comprehensive list in The Big Damn Recap of 2014, and you should check it out when you can! To accompany that, this week's has us chatting about some of our cherrypicked highlights and misses of the con. These include a couple Kickstarters like Lift Off! and Heifer Heist, along with games from: AEG APE Games Asmodee Games Bezier Games Catalyst Games Cryptozoic Entertainment Dice Hate Me Games Eagle & Gryphon Games Fantasy Flight Games Floodgate Games Foxtrot Games Game Salute Gamelyn Games

Episode 052: The Most Interesting Choice Length: 27:45 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We post new episodes every Thursday, and each episode aims to be about 20 - 30 minutes long. Games help us socialize and interact with other people, take us to distant and mythical places, and force us to use those squishy brains of ours to solve complex problems. Yes, games are many things to many people, and the vast majority demand or ask of us to make choices of one kind or another. This week, we look at what some of those favorite choices are in games. Hidden information, teamwork, player elimination? Here are our thoughts. Tell us what some of yours are!   Note: There is no news bulletin this week due to our entire crew being at Gen Con, but expect some big recaps in the weeks to come.   We’d love to hear from you! Please leave feedback via email at podcast@cardboardrepublic.com. You can also reach us social media, including Twitter and BoardGameGeek.   Audio C

Episode 051: Open-Ended RPGs Length: 32:36 Subscribe to Show Link:   Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We’re back at posting new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. While many tabletop roleplaying games have finite stories to tell and promptly end after its tale has completed its course, one of the most well-known traits of RPGs are those whose stories can go on and on for as long as the players wish. But did you know that there are other open-ended tabletop games of note besides the most obvious choices of Dungeons & Dragons (or Pathfinder)? It's true! This week, we have Dave on to talk about a few of them, inlcuding Wraith: the Oblivion, Shadowrun, Exalted, Legend of the Five Rings and more.     We’d love to hear from you! Please leave feedback via email at podcast@cardboardrepublic.com. You can also reach us social media, including Twitter and BoardGameGeek.   Audio Credits: Intro music track is "8-Bit Brawl" by DJ Cutman featuring

Episode 050: CONNNNNNNN!! Part Two Length: 33:48 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We’re back at posting new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. The countdown has begun! Were less than a month out from Gen Con, and that means we're starting our pre-convention coverage. The thing is, there's a lot to cover, and we can't do it all in one episode. So we're breaking it up into two parts. This week we wrap up the second leg of our Gen Con previews with Ryan and his 20 or so games he's particularly interested in. (He also apologizes for around 21:24 when he misspoke by implying Antoine Bauza created Level 7. He meant 7 Wonders. His punishment was to play back-to-back solo runs of Ghost Stories. He died of course. Probably due to a lack of sheep minion armies.) Which games that we talked about have your interest for Gen Con? Which ones didn't we mention? Be sure to let us know!   For the light gaming news bulletin, chec

Episode 049: CONNNNNNNN!! Part One Length: 34:44 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We’re back at posting new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. The countdown has begun! Were less than a month out from Gen Con, and that means we're starting our pre-convention coverage.  The thing is, there's a lot to cover, and we can't do it all in one episode. So we're breaking it up into (at least ) two parts. This week we begin by having on Dave Gordon to talk about what lies in store for the tabletop RPG arena and what in particular he's excited for. What sort of RPGs is Dave looking forward to, and do they line up with yours? Be sure to let us know your selections!   We’d love to hear from you! Please leave feedback via email at podcast@cardboardrepublic.com. You can also reach us social media, including Twitter and BoardGameGeek.   Audio Credits: Intro music track is "8-Bit Brawl" by DJ Cutman featuring S&CO., used wit

Episode 048: Video Games For Board Gamers Length: 33:12 Subscribe to Show Link:    Welcome back to Vox Republica, the Cardboard Republic Podcast! We’re back at posting new episodes every Thursday, and each episode will be about 20 - 30 minutes long. We're back from our Fourth of July break and we're jumping right back into our board game podcast to talk about...video games. No, really. I and my guest Sean McNamara have drummed up lists of five video games every board gamer should try for one reason or another. Lastly, I talk about the latest Kickstarter controversy. Yep, I talk about Potato Salad.   For reference, here are the video game choices we made Erin's List includes: 5. Plague, Inc. 4. The Guild series 3. The Tropico series 2. X-COM: Enemy Unknown 1. FTL   Sean's List includes: 5. Final Fantasy Tactics 4. Guns of Icarus Online 3. Orcs Must Die 2. Civilization 5 1. Hearthstone   For the gaming news bulletin, check out our Weekly Roundup.   We’d love to hear from you! Please leave feedback in our forums