The Isofarian Guard – The Mistake

So let’s talk about why I’m fine making mistakes when I stream a game like The Isofarian Guard. There is a perception among viewers of larger board game channels, I’m probably too small still, that if you make a mistake it’s because you don’t care. That you just rush to get content out. But that is not the case. And it is why I play games the way that I do.

Honesty of Playing Style

Firstly, it’s a more natural way to play games. I dislike playing the first scenario of a game five times to make sure I have everything perfect. That removes the fun of gaming from me. You could even see as I played through this combat the more I did it, the less fun I had, until I noticed my mistake. Why, because it’s the same thing over and over again. There should have been a fail forward mechanic or something.

Everyone Makes Mistakes

And the other reason is while you might not think you make mistakes in games, you do. You just don’t have an audience to catch those mistakes. Making mistakes, learning the mistakes in the rules that you made, questioning stuff as you learn a game are natural parts of playing a game. There is nothing wrong with making a mistake in the rules of a game. And it’s up to you if you even correct it or not when you realize. If it’s more fun with that mistake, keep it in there for you. Warn people, but keep it in.

The issue that can arise with this is when comments are made disparaging content creators, people putting themselves out there. That is something that those people are not doing. Perfection in rules is strived for by all content creators. But, like your own game, it won’t be achieved, so correct out of kindness is helpful and appreciated.

How You Play It

The final reason is that this is how you play it and how I play games that aren’t on streams. Again, no one intentionally makes mistakes. And everyone corrects them when they find them as they go along. But it’s really a better representation of what Nerdologists.com is. It’s about trying new things and seeing what happens. That’s how everyone plays games in real life, so I try and demonstrate real life and real learning curve.

Upcoming Streams

So streaming next week will be different. The 4th of July is going to mess up streaming on Monday because I will be out of town. So no stream on Monday.

Then on Wednesday, I plan on streaming more Isofarian Guard. I say I plan on it because it might not happen. I need to time up getting somethings for streaming because I need to change up my set-up. With a new character being added to the group, how it’s set-up now just isn’t going to work. So I need to create combat zone and map zones for this game to show it off properly which requires a bit more equipment. Upside, that might mean that Chronicles of Drunagor could come back to the table, we’ll see.

The best way, if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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Plus then Village Green with some solo play. A game that I would probably give an 8 as a multi-player game but a 6 as a solo game. At least with how the solo is in the book. I mess around with it a little to see if I can make it more interesting for myself. And I think I found a way that I like to play it better.

The Game – Village Green

Village Green is a fairly interesting little game where you are competing for the best green between a number of villages. Think about the subplot to Hot Fuzz almost. But instead of everything being done for the greater good, you are picking cards to fill out your green. They might have trees, a pond, a gazebo, and generally they have flowers as well.

With those, you create a 3×3 grid. And on the edge of that, both for columns and rows, you add in cards to score for that column or row. It makes creating your green a very interesting puzzle. You need to think about scoring in both directions, kind of like Criss Cross. And while Village Green feels like it should be more interesting solo, I found that it was actually less.

GenCon Events

I think it is an interesting topic to talk about. And in particular, I like to talk to new attendees about going there. One of the best pieces of advice that I received when I went was not to over schedule. And I didn’t, but I also wish that I scheduled less than I did. I think we average two things each day, maybe one day with three. So 9 or so total events, and it was great to do them, but by the end, so maybe it was 10, we skipped one.

Why, because it’s so much fun to do the games that are on the floor. Some of them might be prototypes, a lot of them are games that you can buy at GenCon from companies. It’s more interesting than picking out specific events with a few exceptions.

This year, I looked for events that are going to be unique. If it is playing a game I can likely play elsewhere, I am not going to do it. So instead, I looked for the kick-off events for a few games, Sagrada Legacy and The Batman: Everybody Lies. Plus then playtesting for prototype games. Now, those prototype games might not be great, but it is something I can’t play elsewhere.

Maybe I’ll find that I want to schedule more events while I’m there. And by then it’ll be too late, but I suspect the wandering around the dealer hall, hitting up a ton of different dealers to get demos of games, that is going to be more interesting than finding a 3 hour RPG to play some morning.

The Drink

Just an old fashioned again. This time with Blackstrap bitters. They have kind of a molasses and spice flavor to them. It’s nice, a little bit sweet as well. Definitely a good one to drink.

Upcoming Streams

Well, I am going to be streaming on Wednesday. I am not sure what I want to play for sure. It might be some more Paper Dungeons roll and write and I can continue through the story on stream. I do want get to a bigger game, I just haven’t learned another yet. I could maybe play through a scenario of Perdition’s Mouth, but it is a very large game on the table so you wouldn’t able to see everything.

Maybe I’ll pull out Under Falling Skies, we’ll have to see. But that could be a good, lighter, campaign to get to the table quickly here, while I take the time to learn a bigger game. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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The Game – Sleeping Gods

Let’s talk about the ending. This is something I can’t talk too much about in a review, but if you’re reading this, I hope that you’ve watched the video. Because I am going to talk about how the ending system worked in here, and what my expectations were going into the ending.

So, the game end triggers when you’ve gone through the event deck three times. And from there, the game isn’t over completely, you still need to do things. And I suspect that there are other ways to trigger end game as well, I just haven’t found them yet. There was a final battle, and then decisions, I wasn’t expecting it to be as much as there was.

But was the ending satisfying? I did a lot of work in the game, sailed around a lot and figured out a way to get to and through a lot of story. And was that enough so that when I got a less than ideal ending, it was still interesting? I think that the ending made sense. It really built, in the ending, to the conclusion, and I want to find more endings to see what I can do better.

Now, the scoring, and I talk about this in the video, I got a 92, which seemed solid to me. But why does this game need a scoring system? My one knock on some of the other Red Raven Games, Near and Far in particular, is what there is story but it is too mechanical. Adding in points at the end, it makes it feel more mechanical again. I think an ending could just be an ending.

The Drink

So to wrap up the streaming I ended with some more Scotch. It’s a blended Scotch this time, Monkey Shoulders. The name Monkey Shoulders stems from the workers who would be turning the peat on the Scotch. This was a lot of work, basically shoveling all day, so they became stooped with really built shoulders.

The Scotch itself is a little bit sweeter than some. A blended Scotch often lends itself to be a bit sweeter. But it still makes for good sipping. I would say that it is also one that does well by being let to breath more. I think the first drink is a bit sharp for it, but the more that you have, the better it gets. And that’s not just from the fact that you’re drinking, but as the fumes dissipate it makes it smoother.

Upcoming Streaming

You can see a bit a state of the channel address that I did last week here. It’s not an ominous thing, it’s just something that I want to focus on a bit more this year. My written content is in a good schedule, though, might be changing slightly. The 10 Minute Marvel Podcast is coming out every week. And I do put out content basically every Wednesday. But I want to add more. So vote in the poll for what board game I should play next and video game I should start.

Let me know which ones you want me to start playing. And does additional content, like video game content, interest you for Malts and Meeples? Should I do that on YouTube or play around with that on Twitch?

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The Game – Sleeping Gods: Dungeons

So of course we are going to talk about the dungeons and how they work in this game. And really, they work mainly the same way that the ship does. With a few changes, of course, so that it feels like it should be an expansion. But it doesn’t make the game more complex than it is without them.

So you lose out on the ship action and the event that happens each day. Now, the event still counts down, comes off the pile, but you don’t do what it says. And when you’re towards the bottom of that event deck, it’s generally a good thing.

But to make up for losing out on the ship action, you get three actions. Those actions can be exploring, moving, or camping. And you don’t need to camp to end the day, but that kind of becomes your ship action type of thing. In that it can help heal up your crew or get rid of fatigue. Though, if you build up too much, you can just always leave the dungeon and wrap up the turn that you were on.

It’s an interesting new thing. There were definitely a number of tokens that were added to the game because of it, but it doesn’t feel like it really increases the complexity of anything.

The Drink

Back to some Scotch last night. This time a Highland Scotch, and a very nice one. I killed off the bottle, which is something that I didn’t talk about but it’s something that you want to do. There’s a mindset that I can have while drinking a good Scotch or Whiskey where I want to savor it, only bring it out on special occasions. But the longer you let it sit, the more the fact it’s been opened, assuming you opened it, the more the flavor will change.

New Content

So, a few things for new content. I talked about it at the start of the stream. I had the opportunity to show off game play for two games that are coming to Kickstarter. One was supposed to be on Tuesday and did launch but they pulled it back because of price point with Aldarra. And the other was playing with the designer of Rogue Angels a scenario of that game on TableTop Simulator. You can find those below.

Aldarra Game Play

Rogue Angels Game Play

And to go with that, I am still, obviously, keeping up with my Sleeping Gods Game Play as well. So look for that again on Wednesday at 8 PM Central. I’m not sure when my next other thing will come out, but I have a game coming to cover as well. But more on that when it gets here.

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The Game – Sleeping Gods

Let’s talk a bit about the crew today, because my knowledge of my crew is what led me to making a choice that I might not have. The crew are a key part of the game because they are who you activate for several different things. Skill checks, which add fatigue, combat, and their abilities.

Now, there are nine crew members in the game counting the Captain. And each of them has at least two abilities that they are good at. A few have more than that. I like how you utilize them, putting fatigue on the character to activate the skills that they are good at.

Mechanically, it definitely works well. I like that you can only activate up to two people. So sometimes you can get to the goal just by putting fatigue on the characters, but is it worth it. Since there is also the element where you flip over a card as well. That card might be a six, so you only need two from characters. Or it might be a one. It’s a nice little decision of how much you want to push your luck in the game.

Plus, as you get more fate cards that you can equip, you can either diversify a characters skills or make them focused on something. I generally have specialized my characters to help get to those higher numbers. I think that’s the route that most people will go, but certain abilities, at times, make more sense with certain characters.

The Drink

So last nights drink was a Negroni again. So not much to talk about with it. So let’s touch on a complaint a little bit. Target in general is getting worse at carrying things that I want. And this does come back to booze, but also is with food. Target has moved away, might be because of supply chain, but even before they pandemic they were in process of moving away from major brands. Everything was being replaced with Target brands.

The downside of this is that some items in Target brand are fine. Pasta, that’s fine. But Target cheese is much worse than Crystal Farms, Kraft or Tillamook. Now, they still carry Tillamook with it’s limited variety. So to get a shredded cheese, I either get Target brand, or hope it’s in Tillamook, or go somewhere else. Back to alcohol and Target. They are now getting rid of the local brands of gin. That means that I bought a bottle at a great price. But now, going into the Target liquor is not going to be worth it. Everything is standard at this point. And I want to get local when I can because it’s often better in my opinion.

Anyways, off my soap box. I bought a bottle of gin at a great price, but now I won’t be able to get that gin again at Target, because they closed it out.

Upcoming Streams

As always, next stream will be on next Wednesday. Join me for part 8 of the adventures of the Manticore. And thanks to everyone who has joined live over the streams. If you want to know when I go live, subscribe to the channel and click that notification bell. You can do that here.

And to let you know, there will be additional video content coming out sometime soon. I’m still working on the formats for what that will be. But don’t be surprised to see more game play. And game play of different types on the channel, so not only just solo. Plus the additional content that I want to start filming.

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The Game

So last week we talked about legacy games and I want to talk about the twist in this legacy game. So spoilers ahead if you are just reading and not watching the video.

Aeon’s End Legacy bills itself as a 7 chapter legacy game. I think it could go up to 10 games maybe 12 if you lost and replayed as many times as you could. So how does it feel to have an 8th chapter as a surprise in there. Jamey Stegmaier, when he was playing it didn’t like that twist. And he talked about what a legacy game should be. I don’t agree with everything he said and Charterstone, to me, was a weak legacy game. But I can see his argument about the surprise chapter.

For me, it doesn’t matter that there is an 8th chapter to play through, because I am playing it solo. But if you have a group that is going to change. Maybe someone can’t play the next time you would, maybe someone is moving, maybe there is a new game everyone was excited to get to the table. As a solo player, it just means that I have another week of streaming for a game that I’m enjoying. And Jamey’s issue wasn’t that the game wasn’t fun, it was that it was a surprise extra game you needed to play for the full story.

So, should a legacy game have a big twist? That’s a question for another time.

The Beer

So again, I am going with the very crushable tart ale, Key Lime Supreme from Surly Brewing Company. Sometimes you just want a beer that is easy to drink. The Supreme line from Surly are all very easy drinking beers. And while they might not be the most complex beers that is fine. It is better to crush something like them versus a lager or a pilsner which are generally considered pretty easy drinking. This just offers more in the way of flavor that I really appreciate.

Upcoming Streams

Monday, August 30th at 8:30 PM Central – Top 10 Games That I’m Probably Wrong About But I Still Love
A follow up to this past Monday’s list of games that I don’t like but you very well might like. You can find that whole list here.

Wednesday, September 1st at 8:00 PM Central – Aeon’s End Legacy Chapter 8
We’ll see if I can wrap up this final chapter in a single go or not.

If you want to know when I go live, you can checkout Malts and Meeples YouTube page, click the subscribe and notification button and you’ll know when new live streams are coming up.

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Join me as I look at Kickstarter and see what games I’ve saved and am or was considering Kickstarting.

Dice & Ink: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/…

Aeon Trespass: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/…

Up Your Game: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/… Isofarian Guard: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/…

Detective City of Angels: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/…

Monster Cards: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/…

Time of Legends: Destinies https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/…

Godspeed: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/…

Wicked Foundations: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/…

Which one of these games catches your fancy? Are there any that I missed in September that I really should have checked out?

If you are enjoying these videos, please consider giving the video a thumbs up and subscribing on Youtube. The live streams are going up on Twitch, so consider following me there.

Bottoms up!

Last night we got into our third game of Pandemic Legacy Season 1.

I make a couple of corrections to mistakes that I’ve made before and try and correct them this time. If you aren’t familiar with Pandemic Legacy, you can find information here on Board Game Geek.

For the malts yesterday, I was drinking Southern Tier 2XSMASH Double IPA. This hoppy beer doesn’t really hit you in the face with the higher ABV, but shows off a good hop profile.

So join me for some Pandemic Legacy Season 1, and bottoms up!