Avatar: The Last Airbender Plot

Let’s just talk quickly about the plot. I won’t spoil much of what happens, only what is in the first episode, and sets the context.

Aang is the Avatar, someone who can learn and master the elements of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. But he’s young, still learning, when the Fire Nation, those who can bend fire, declare war on the rest of the world. He goes off on the run and ends up frozen in ice for 100 years. When he comes out of the ice, war is still happening. But the Fire Nation has a much stronger foothold than before. And he still needs to figure out what it means to be the Avatar and how to stop the war.

Animated versus Live Action

Obviously, this is the main question for most people. How does the live action version hold up against the animated version. And I think, as did my wife, that it holds up well. I know there will be some people who nitpick around it and say that it doesn’t do everything identical to the animated version. In which case, I recommend that they watch the animated version again. But for the most part, it does a great job with it.

If I were to critique the live action version and find a few negatives, I’m not sure that all of the acting is as dynamic as the voice acting was. And there are a couple of times where the bending doesn’t look perfect. It looks really good, but it doesn’t look perfect. That’s mainly around Aang flying, which doesn’t matter what it is, it doesn’t look perfect even in a big budget film, Wonder Woman I’m looking at you.

What It Changes

The big thing that it changes is that it tones down the goofiness. Now, note that I didn’t say that it gets rid of the goofiness. It certainly doesn’t do that. But it does tone it down. And with that it leans into the reality of the war that the Fire Nation has brought upon the Earth, Wind, and Water nations.

This, I think, is an important change. Again, I don’t want it beat for beat. If I wanted it like that, I’d watch the animated show. But also, some of the goofiness wouldn’t translate as well to live action. It’d undercut what the show really ends up getting right about the series. And I’ll touch on that soon. Some of the silly things that Aang does or Momo’s antics, or even Sokka’s ticks wouldn’t translate as well into live action.

But It Does It Justice

And let’s focus in on this. The Netflix show does the animated series justice. Mainly because it nails getting the heart of the show down. The struggle for Aang, Sokka, Katara, and others is real in the show. And the live action version leans into that as the focus. Mainly, because it can. It’s still a show that kids can watch, just slightly older kids, because of how it handles the story.

I don’t think I can emphasize this enough. Avatar: The Last Airbender is about Aang’s struggle. But it’s not just about that. Everyone desires that the Avatar saves them and ends the war. But everyone is lost and grieving because of the war. And that dynamic of hope, or loss of hope, the scheming and planning. The violence and helping, all of that translates so well throughout the first season of the show.

Final Thoughts on Avatar: The Last Airbender

I really want to express how good this show is. Not just for people who have watched the animated series. I think that Netflix’s adaptation of it is a great opportunity for new fans to be created. And that is important to have a show continue to grow that way. And the numbers of Netflix are proving it out that people are excited for the show.

The changes that they make, and I mentioned toning down the goofiness, are good. I know that there were a lot of complaints about making Sokka less sexist. The point of that is that he changes. But the show demonstrates clearly that you can still have those arcs without making it as blatant. I see him still as sexist in how he treats and protects Katara, but it’s not a blatant way that he handles it. It’s from a protective source and he’s still learning to overcome and change and not feel like his sister can’t handle it.

I want the next season now. And I hope that Netflix can make it quickly and do it justice. There are characters I want to see show up. And there are a lot of arcs that I really want to see develop over time. We start to see the hint at them with Uncle Iroh and others, but I want to see how they can continue to grow the series.

Have you watched it? And did you enjoy it?

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Thanks for Listening

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Comments or Questions: Did You Like Echo?

What stood out to you as highlights from Echo? What did you want to see more of from Echo? And what do you want to see with Echo and Kingpin going forward, whether it’s them facing off again or not?

You can let us know all of those things down in the comment section below. Or tweet them to me @TheScando or by using #10MinMarvel. And there is now the 10 Minute Marvel Facebook page as well where you can join in the conversation here. And follow us on YouTube for more content here.

Thank you again for listening, and we’ll see you next time.

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Top 5 Most Anticipated Television Shows of 2023

5. The Witcher Season 3

It’ll be Henry Cavill’s last season but that’s fine, I still expect to enjoy it a lot. I’ve enjoyed both seasons and while they aren’t the most consistent, I love the lore of the world. Season 2 gave us a good tease of something big at the end and now I’m curious to see how they’ll pay it off.

4. Fallout

I don’t know much about this show. In fact, I’m not 100% certain it’ll come out in 2023. But if it does from Amazon Prime, I’ll be curious about it. The world is interesting and I don’t have that much exposure to it. It’s probably a video game that I should checkout. But I think something like this with a big would could translate well to a television series.

3. Shadow and Bone Season 2

I really loved the first season, so to get a 2^nd, I’m excited to see what is going to happen. The characters are interesting, the world is interesting and generally, I didn’t have any real qualms with the show, the only thing, and this isn’t a bad thing, I might want to rewatch season 1. It’s been just long enough that I’ll want to know what happened and relive it again.

2. Star Wars Shows

We should be getting the Mandalorian Season 3, which I’m so excited for. Plus the Ahsoka show, also really excited for that one. I know I need to catch up on stuff like Andor, Kenobi and finally finish Book of Boba Fett, but none of them really excited me. Mandalorian Season 3 is must watch the week that it comes out for me. And I hope that Ahsoka will be the same. Oh, and I almost forgot Skeleton Crew which sounds like a lot of fun as well and isn’t tied into Star Wars cannon seemingly as much. So I’m more interested in it.

1. Marvel Shows

Obviously, and there might be a number of them with Secret Invasion, Loki Season 2, Echo, Agatha Coven of Chaos, Ironheart, and maybe What If Season 2 as well in the mix. If you want to know my favorites or most anticipated in that and see how they rank against the movies, check out the January 3^rd episode of 10 Minute Marvel.

Honorable Mentions

Of course I have some of those as well.

• But the first one is Anasi Boys an adaptation of a Neil Gaiman book but one that I thought was just alright. It’s certainly one I’d checkout, if it sounds interesting enough once some reviews start coming in.
• Extinction, on TNT not a streaming show, also sounds interesting, a software engineer who gets stuck in a time loop where the world keeps ending in different ways, that sounds entertaining. I believe it’s already been out in the UK, it’s coming to the US in 2023.
• Probably should be on the list already, but The Continental coming to Starz, which means it might be a bit until I see it. But this one I do want to see, a prequel series to the John Wick films about the Continental Hotel from that series, set in the late 1970’s.
• Dune Sisterhood because it is a Dune show, don’t know too much about it, but I’m curious. It’s on HBO Max, and still alive, so it’s lower on the list because who knows when I’d see it.
• And I’m not seeing it for this year, but if Wheel of Time Season 2 comes out, that’ll be towards the top of the list.
• Also, Stranger Things season 5. But that is supposed to start filming this year, so unlikely to come out.

What shows are you looking forward to?

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Lunch Time Gaming At Work

I’ve started a new job so this has gone away, for now, but maybe once a week at my old job, I’d bring in a game and we’d play it. It was just a nice chill time and it was fun to introduce people who maybe hadn’t played many board games, some new board games. Plus it was a chance for me, and I need them, to play a game that I hadn’t played before. Biblios and Arboretum stand out as some of the favorites of the group. And then there were some duds like the Copenhagen: Roll and Write, or Hexroller. They were worth trying, but not great games.

GenCon

I could break this down even further, but the whole experience was amazing. And I can’t wait until the 2023 GenCon. But having some people I knew there was fun, and I got to chat with them some. Plus then Discord communities. I got game with people from Man vs Meeple and Tablenauts and their discords and it was just a great time. Plus I got to play so many different games. GenCon is an amazing experience every time and I think that I found a rhythm that I like for being there. Though, we’ll have to see what might be fun to try next year.

10 Minute Marvel

This one is more recent, but getting a co-host for 10 Minute Marvel has been amazing. Yes, it makes more work for me editing, but it’s just to have a scheduled nerdy Marvel conversation every week. And I want to have more of them, maybe without the editing all the time. But it was great to get a co-host and a friend to go to the movies with and just dive into all of the fun nerdy stuff. And I’m excited to see all the new stuff coming out and talk about that as well.

Getting a Gaming Table

It feels like it’s been longer but that was this spring that I went through, found a lot of games to sell, sold them, and got a gaming table. I love my gaming table. It makes playing campaign games so much easier since I can leave it set-up. I sometimes wonder if I could leave one game set-up on one half and another on the other half. But then again, a lot of them take up more than half of the table. But I basically always have whatever campaign game I’m streaming set-up on there.

Stars of Akarios

Speaking of Streaming, Stars of Akarios. I figured I’d like the game, but I didn’t realize I’d like it as much as I did. The game is just great, the story is fun, and that tactical space combat really shines. So an easy pick, it was hard to take it down. I kind of wanted to continue, but also, it is good to show off more games than just one.

The Dragon Prince, Locke & Key, and Stranger Things

I put them all in one because, well, they are all Netflix shows. And all of them are some of my favorites. I feel like I’m probably missing a show, but these three were great. Locke & Key ended strong. The Dragon Prince, it had been a bit but used it as a chance to watch the whole series again. And while, Stranger Things, Season 4 was the best one since Season 1, and I think it’s really close between those. There were just a lot of really good and fun shows that Netflix put out. And then GBBO is always good, but I kind of consider that to be a little bit of a different thing.

Campaign Games

Technically Stars of Akarios would have fallen into this group, but overall I had an amazing time with campaign games. Sleeping Gods, even though I played it wrong, was so much fun. Tainted Grail, we finished up the second campaign and are into the third. Pathfinder Adventure Card Game was great. Spire’s End and Spire’s End Hildegard have been a ton off un. Even the weird campaign from Paper Dungeons was a lot of fun to play through. So lots of campaign style games that were fun.

Final Thoughts

I don’t think that 2022 was completely a normal nerdy year. I have a four year old now and that means that some nerdy things happen less often or at least getting out for them does. On the flip side, I got to do GenCon and I got to play a lot of Tainted Grail and get a lot of games in. So it’s been a very fun and fulfilling year of nerdy things. And I didn’t even touch on the anime that I’ve watched, not all of which have been great. But there are a good number of fun ones of those as well.

I am really looking forward to what 2023 has as well. Like I said, we’ll talk about some of those things coming up. But it’s going to be another fun year. And hopefully you’ve had good nerdy things happen to you in 2022 as well.

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The Dragon Prince – Plot Overview

Warning, if you haven’t watched the show at all, spoilers ahead for the whole series.

Season 1-3 Recap

Let’s recap everything to get to where we are. Rayla and the moon elves come to assassinate the King after he and Viren took down the dragon king and destroyed the Dragon Prince’s egg. However, that egg is found in the castle. And one of the moon elves, Rayla joins with Callum and Ezran to go on the run with the Dragon Prince’s egg to try and get him back to his mother. Things don’t always go smoothly but they work their way over there through the first three seasons.

Viren, meanwhile, is making a play for the throne which Ezran struggles to know what to do with. And he attempts to track down the boys and Rayla to get the egg back. Even sending his own children after them to get the egg and let a mysterious accident happen to them. But that doesn’t work and it culminates with Viren leading troops into Xadia, the elven lands, to get the egg back, all with a mysterious little voice Aaravos whispering in his ear, helping him along the way.

Season 4

We jump forward two years. Ezran has taken the thrown, Viren is back, after being thought to be dead, and now the threat is new. No longer are they trying to get the Dragon Prince, Zym, back to his mother, but now the threat is the return of Aaravos.

Season 4 brings the characters back together after having been apart. As well as gives us more of the history of Xadia and the lands and what Aaravos had done prior to being put into his prison. And without saying much more, that’s the basics of the story to avoid spoilers.

What Doesn’t Work?

The time jump makes sense, to some extent, and there is a story reason for it. But it also adds in some complications for everything. When you do a time jump you need to explain where characters have been and what they’ve been up to. I think it works for some of the characters pretty well, Claudia for example, but not for others as much, Rayla. However, you need Rayla’s story for some of the tension and development of everything.

And I think that a show like The Dragon Prince, with the actual time gap between seasons suffers a little bit. As the characters age up, you kind of expect the show to mature a little bit. And The Dragon Prince has never kept from dealing with tough topics. But some of the characters or situations are basically done for humor in ways where it cuts into heavier or more meaningful moments. Now, it is a kids show, so that is the reason, never let it to get too heavy in any moment, but it could have been handled better.

What Works?

I think the overall story is the right way to go. Aaravos needs to be the next big bad guy. There is not the pressure of getting Zym to his mother anymore. So some new bad guy needs to exist. And Viren could work for that, but it’d feel a lot like a retread. I believe it was smart for them to look to a new main villain.

Viren’s arc for this season I think worked really well. It was almost a passing of a torch early in the season and he returns to his power at the end. No details for you on how that works though as it is a spoiler. But his arc makes a lot of sense and I like that they given characters who are villains depth and arcs for what they are doing.

And finally, I really like the handling of the elf and human dynamic. It is two years later, but things aren’t perfect. In fact, a lot of times, things still struggle. And that is one thing that the Dragon Prince always does well. It tells a story where there are comparisons to the real world. But it shows light on things that are hard to see in real life. Mainly that real change, coming together, it takes time, it takes work, there are going to be differing opinions. But if it truly does matter, then the fight to make those changes happen does matter as well.

Final Thoughts on The Dragon Prince Season 4

Is this my favorite season, I don’t know that it is. There are elements that are great, though. And without getting into spoilers, it is hard to talk about them completely But there are elements that aren’t as fun. And some of that is the time jump and the need to explain it away. I wish they hadn’t done it in some way. But at the same time, it is needed.

One of my likes, how it handles the struggles of the elf and human dynamic is really good. And that is not as strong without that time jump. However, another element, that with Rayla, it feels like it’s tacked onto there for no amazing reason. They needed to explain it, they want more drama. But this show is better when it allows some things to work out just because they do. Overall, still a great show and still a really fun season.

Is this going to be a season that brings in new viewers or makes it worth pushing through? No, I don’t think it is. But if you like the show, it is reason to keep watching. Do you like like The Dragon Prince?

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So what movies are going to make the list, or universes created in cinema do I want to see even more of?

5. Chronicles of Narnia

I enjoy the book series a lot. Chronicles of Narnia is one of those series that I grew up reading or having read to me when I was younger. And it holds a spot in my heart. I thought that the recent adaptation was solid, but it didn’t surprise me when they didn’t get through everything.

And Chronicles of Narnia is kind of a cheat. I know that there is a show coming for it. I forget if it is Amazon or Netflix who is producing it. So I hope that is really good. But for a series that I watched growing up the original films and then the new releases, I’d love to see the whole thing redone again.

4. Star Wars

Another one that is a bit of a cheat. There are obviously going to be more Star Wars movies. And today the Obi Wan show came out on Disney+. And we got our first trailer for Andor yesterday and some other shows announced. But I want more Star Wars movies.

And in particular, I want more Star Wars movies, but ones that don’t have anything to do with Skywalkers. We’ve gotten through the Luke and Leia saga with an entertaining but odd sequel trilogy. And prequels that probably didn’t tell the story that they should have. I’d love something set prior to the events, or well after. Or maybe in a corner of the galaxy that never really had to deal with this situation. But I’m done with the Skywalker Saga and the shows, minus the Mandalorian, thus far, haven’t interested me that much.

3. Mutant Chronicles

This is probably not one that people know about or if they do, they just thought it was okay. But I really enjoy this film with Ron Pearlman and Thomas Jane. It’s an odd world, and I’d love to see it rebooted. And with rebooting it getting a whole series of these films set in the world that is originally a pen and paper RPG.

With it being an RPG that’d give more room for stories and more characters. I would probably want to get Ron Pearlman back just because I like him as an actor, as you’ll see with my next pick, but the movie for me is one. Now that I’m talking about it, I want to watch it again.

2. Hellboy

Speaking or Ron Pearlman, we have Hellboy on the list. Hellboy is going to be based off of a comic book series, and is about a half demon or devil, Hellboy, played by Ron Pearlman. He does a great job in the roll, but this is another one that probably needs a reboot.

The original one is a lot of fun and I like the absurdity of everything in it. But I think it’d make more sense to start again. I hope if and when this happens that they don’t try and make it too dark or gritty and keep the Hellboy style humor in it. But I’d love to see more.

1. Need For Speed

Finally, probably not one that people would guess. But I find dumb car movies generally fun. Especially with a it based off of a game series that I’ve played a lot of. I prefer Need For Speed to Fast and the Furious, but they are obviously going to get compared.

This is one where I don’t need a reboot. I just want more in the series. Aaron Paul is a lot of fun in the lead role for this. And I think that you could create something about street racing, or illegal racing, and come up with some very fun movies about it. Yes, it is basically Fast and the Furious again. But that one has gone so crazy with the series. I’d prefer to see Need For Speed continue and be a bit more grounded.

Final Thoughts

What movies would you want to see rebooted or more in the world of those movies? I think that it’s a harder list to make than television shows because a lot of television shows run for a little while and get cancelled before the story is done. With movies they more often tell complete stories in the movie, so it’s less open ended for wanting more.

For example, I love the movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but there isn’t really more story for that world. Maybe rebooting some of the 80’s B movie classics, but making a B movie is hard. So it is not something that’s too easy to come up with, at least for me. Hence the few that are most definitely cheating with Star Wars and Chronicles of Narnia.

Let me know your choices down below, on Facebook, or Twitter.

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Locke & Key Summary

No spoilers, but let’s talk about the premise and what happened in season one. Locke & Key is a young adult styled horror themed show about the Locke family. After Rendell, the father, is killed in seemingly a random attack by a student he was counseling, Nina takes her kids, Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode back to Massachusetts and the Keyhouse, where Locke, grew up.

There, Bode meets an imaginary friend, or so he thinks, in the well house, Dodge. And he starts to hear strange whispering sounds that lead him to keys. These keys all of magical powers, like a key that opens a door to anywhere. Unfortunately, Dodge is not just an imaginary friend, but an entity from another dimension who bonded to Lucas, one of Rendell’s friends from high school, years ago.

Dodge wants the keys, and in particular wants the Omega key, one that will open the door blocking off the portal. Using the student who attacked and killed Rendell, Dodge tries to get the keys that she needs in order to complete their plan. Meanwhile, Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode are dealing with a new town and that adults don’t know about the keys. Eventually, though, they manage to defeat Dodge and throw her through the portal back to her dimension, or so they think.

Locke & Key Season 2

Season two picks up shortly after the events of season two. Really when the kids next year of school starts. And of course, as viewers, we know, that the issue at hand is Dodge. She is still around, but the kids don’t know that. So what is Dodge’s plan going to be now?

The style of the show stays very much the same. It is still a young adult show with horror elements to it. For me, the feel of the show leans more into those horror elements, but not too much. But one of the things that this season does, it dig more into the lore of the Keyhouse and the Locke family. It is shown early on, but really delved into towards the end of season two.

What Doesn’t Work?

I think the one knock people might have from season one still remains. If you read the comic by Joe Hill you know how much darker and twisted that is. While Tyler, Kinsey and Bode are all around the same age, the world and how they interact with it is much less fanciful. They struggle with life more, and the actions of the student are grimmer.

For something on Netflix, I think that the changes work. But while season two is a little bit darker, it is not that dark horror. So if season one is not your jam, then season two is not going to be either. Now if season one grew on you, this might feel a bit more like the comics. And I think as someone who read the comics and likes the show, I see more nods to the comics in this one. There are in season one, but more direct references I feel here.

What Works?

I really think that building on the lore works well in this season. We get to find out not about where the portal goes to, but more of the history of it. More of what Dodge wants as well, which is intriguing. The house and lore are so intriguing that it’s hard not to want to know more about it and see more in the world. The portal to another dimension is that element that just feels different and out there from other shows.

I think they also toned down the teen drama a little bit. Watch the first few episodes, and you will disagree. But the further you get into the series, the more you see that drop away. There is still drama, since they aren’t going fully horror, drama needs to exist in some other ways. But it isn’t as much as times in season one. And a lot of that is that Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode feel like a weight has been lifted with Dodge being gone.

I appreciate, as well, that there is more adult involvement and that some of that involvement, while similar to the comics, is handled better. I think that they create a more interesting story that way. And it feels like the adult involvement makes more sense in this case.

Finally, the acting is still very strong. Bode, as a kid actor, is not always the best, nor the new kid actor in there as well. But Gabe is amazing (Dodge’s current form), and the other two kids, Kinsey and Tyler do a very good job as well. I love it when a show does well with the casting. And their mother, Nina, is very good at being confused.

Who Is It For?

I think it is for fans of Stranger Things. Another Netflix property with a similar feel, but more of a kids on bikes focus. This feels like it’s a tad more cleaned up from that and while it blends fantasy and horror, the feel is not quite the same.

As for fans of the comics, I do think that season two is likely to be appreciated more. But it is young adult in tone versus the comics. So if you dislike season one, season two is unlikely to change that. And I can understand that if expectations starts differently that this might seem very off. But if you go into season one knowing it is young adult, you’ll likely be able to appreciate it more.

Locke & Key Season 2 Final Thoughts

I like this show a lot. For me, I do not mind the young adult feel, nor am I sure that I would love to watch something that sticks perfectly to the comics. This helps balance out some of the trauma that they went through by showing off the wonder of the Keyhouse and what it is to be a Locke. The decisions that Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode face still are heavy, but there are more moments in there.

And I know there is going to be one more season. I think, many people, like myself, didn’t watch season two immediately when it dropped. There is just too much time between the seasons. But, thankfully, Netflix is already committed to a season three and they know it will be the last one. I want to see where the series ends, and while it might not be release day binge, I will watch it.

Do you enjoy Locke & Key on Netflix?

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Thanks For Listening

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You can also support the podcast over on Patreon. The money raised there goes to help improve the quality of the podcast. As well as improve the quality of the Malts and Meeples YouTube channel and Nerdologists.com website. Thank you for considering supporting us in any way that you can.

Comments or Questions

Let me know your thoughts on America Chavez’s backstory? Which version is more interesting and would you like to see adapted to the movie? And what character should I cover next that seems to be appearing in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?

Or do you have other questions? Let me know in the comments below. Or you can let me know over on Twitter. You can find me on Twitter @TheScando or with #10MinMarvel. Are you excited for the Netflix shows to be showing up on Disney+? Do you want Marvel to make more seasons of Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones?

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Eagle Gryphon Games Order

This one happened today. I normally wouldn’t have done it, but I got an e-mail from Eagle Gryphon game that they have their Black Friday sale going on, and there’s even extra off when you hit $50, $100 and $200 I believe.

PitchCar Expansion 8

One of two expansions that I don’t have. This one is cool in that it allows you to split your road. You can create two paths. If you think about games like Mario Kart or often Need for Speed games, there are a lot of the time shortcuts that you can take. Or the board game Downforce has tracks that split as well.

Well, now I can do that in PitchCar. And I’m probably never going to say no to even more PitchCar. PitchCar is just so much fun, and it’s in some ways easier to get to the table than Icecool, which does something similar with flicking penguins instead of cars. Racing is just a theme that people understand better than penguins in high school. And this I want to create that shortcut, or maybe a long cut.

Fleet: The Dice Game

To hit the point where I could get a bit more off I added a roll and write game to the list. For a lot of YouTube people I watch, The Brother’s Murph and Dr GloryHogg on the GloryHoundd YouTube Channel, they really like this one. It is a roll and write with a number of combos, but it is also a roll and write that it heavier. It’s one that has been on my radar for quite a while, it’s just been hard to find. So already on sale for Black Friday and pushing me to get 10% off, I’ll add it to an order.

All Systems Go Purchase

This is from a couple of times of going to ASG. The last game on the list I actually got when I finalize selling my RPG stuff that I talked about last time, which I talk about why I sold a lot of RPG stuff here. Buying stuff this last time with store credit I had left and paying for what was leftover pushed me to the point where now I can get a free $100 game with their rewards program. I just need to figure out what.

The Crew: Deep Sea Adventures

This is one that I might have talked about before, but it was a pre-order that came in. I didn’t actually realize it, but they rang it up when I was in the store even though I’d already paid for it. They caught that not me, so now I have store credit to use on my next purchase, which I’m glad they noticed. It’s something that could have easily been missed.

But onto the game, this is a trick taking game. It’s a cooperative one and that’s different. There was already another version of it that I own as well and need to get played. You’re limited in how you can communicate, and you need certain players to win certain things. I might need to win the trick with the red four in it, for example. And to go with that, you might be allowed to only win one trick. So it’s an interesting puzzle that I want to dive into.

Marvel Champions: War Machine and The Mad Titan’s Shadow

This is just more Marvel Champions. I say that like it’s not a big thing. The Mad Titan’s Shadow was delayed for ages because of the shipping crisis, at least in getting to the US. Well, it’s here now, so if you want to play through a Thanos focused campaign, you can do that now. And War Machine is another character to add into the pool to play with. I’m excited to play with them, and really, I need to play more Marvel Champions, I’m so far behind on the content.

Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write

If you’ve been watching my Top 100 Board Games (of all time) 2021 Edition, you know that there are a ton of roll and write games on the list. Well, here is another roll and write game. This is one from Pandasaurus who is known for a lot of different games but I love Sonora that they’ve done and they have games called Dinosaur Island and Dinosaur World. This one is a roll and write version of that first one.

And All Systems Go backed the Kickstarter. So this is the Kickstarter version of Dinosaur Island Rawr ‘n Write. I’m not sure what that adds in extra, but there are extra things in the box. That is just a fun bonus for me, because I’d have been fine with retail.

XenoShyft: Dreadmire

This one I picked up when I finalized my trade-in. Going back to my Top 100 Board Games (of all time) 2021 Edition, you’ll know from yesterday my #11 is XenoShyft Onslaught. It’s kind of tower defense deck building game with bugs. I call it Starship Troopers the board game because fighting bugs in space. I already know I like the system, this one adds in weather I believe to maybe make it even more difficult, and this game is already difficult. But I want to get it to the table, and it was used but NIS (new in shrink) at the same time which is fun.

Miniature Market Anniversary

Miniature Market does a good job of getting you to buy stuff. For my birthday month they gave me $10 credit to use. Anniversary month, I think for me making my first purchase but maybe theirs, $10 credit. Of course, I’m not going to let money to to waste, or since I already wanted these games, might as well make it cheaper on myself.

Land vs Sea

This is one that I blame Quackalope for telling me about, Quackalope is a board game YouTube channel, very good and highly recommend after Malts and Meeples. But they really loved this game, and to me it sounded interesting. Land vs Sea is kind of an area control game as you are building out areas of, well, land and sea. But depending on how you put stuff out, it can let you score even more points. And, this is key for me, you are building out a map, there is no set board. I have Carcassonne that does this, but I want another, well, I have one now.

The Dragon Prince: Battlecharged

I love The Dragon Prince. If you haven’t watched this show on Netflix, stop reading articles after this one on the internet, and go watch it. It’s from some of the same creators (or maybe all) as Avatar: The Last Airbender show. I personally like this one better.

The game takes the main characters from the show, both good and bad, and allows you to create teams. You draft them or pick them thematically and then fight. So it’s a skirmish style game. I don’t always love skirmish games, Super Fantasy Brawl being an exception, but the theme of this one I love. If nothing else I want to give this one a try and see if it is one that works for me. If not, it can move on from the collection, because I got it $10 off.

Crowdfunding Backing

Mythwind

I won’t talk about this one much because I’ve already talked about it a lot. If you’re just looking at this post, Mythwind is like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley but as a board game. That is, it is a game where there isn’t a win condition. You are just seeing how well you can do and how big a town you can build. It’s an interesting concept and one that I’m sure some people will love. I think that I might love it as well. But if not, I can always sell it for what I backed it for most likely.

Boy Band Builder

This is one that my wife backed a while ago and just showed up. Guess what the game is about, that’s right, building a boy band. I think it feels a little bit like Marrying Mr Darcy, where it’s almost a take that sort of game, but really you care more about building up your boy bad to complete gigs and get as many points as you can. I want to play this one because I think it’ll be good for a laugh.

Too Many Bones: Unbreakable

And this one is from Gamefound. I haven’t gotten any Too Many Bones before, even though I work within a mile of Chip Theory Games, might be a mile and a half now. Too Many Bones is kind of a tongue in cheek with weird characters little fighting game. There are no minis for the fighting, though, it’s all done with poker chips which is weird and cool.

So, why did I jump in now? This expansion wasn’t a bad price, and it’s a standalone expansion. To go with that the characters seem more interesting. One is kind of a weather manipulating character, and I forget what the other one does, but some of the earlier ones are closer to your more standard fighter, cleric, etc. that you expect to see in a fantasy game. If I really love it Chip Theory Games does a solid job of keeping stuff in stock.

Level 99 Pre-Order

Almost forgot about this one, but it’s a pre-order so will come in eventually.

Bullet [star] and Wood Pieces

From what I can tell, this feels like an app game. You are trying to blow up different patterns of stuff, and it’s just hard to explain. But it looks cool. It’s real time too, which isn’t something I always love, but if I can play it solo and real time, then I might be more interested in real time.

The idea is that you are playing down cards to destroy bullets that are coming towards you. And you are different anime style heroines, I think each with how their own powers. You are trying to do some pattern matching so that you can destroy those bullets but you only have a certain amount of time. And I got the wood pieces because they just look cooler.

Alright, that’s it. Which one of these games that’s coming in or that I already have would you want to play?

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Ghost Hunt

It’s the only anime on the list, but it’s a good one. This one leans into Japanese horror but is also still an anime. That means that it has some lighter moments in it. However, it also does have some really good horror moments in it. Mai finds herself in a school where there is a ghost. She runs into the president of the SPR, Shibuya Psychic Research, and gets a job with him. She then goes on a lot of adventures and mysteries with ghosts and other monsters. That’s the basics of it, but it’s a nice fast anime to watch that I really enjoyed.

Locke & Key

Locke & Key is a great one to checkout because the second season is coming out tomorrow. Locke & Key follows the Locke family as they return to Rendell’s home after his death. His wife and kids go there, and Bode, the youngest starts to hear weird noises. These lead him to finding keys and to finding Dodge. The keys do amazing things, very fanciful and terrifying in nature, but Dodge doesn’t seem to want to use them for quite as simple things as Bod would want.

Locke & Key is on Netflix and based off of a comic book series by Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son. The comics are much more violent and adult in nature than the show. The show on Netflix is more YA (young adult) focused, which I think works well. It still has that sense of uneasiness and dread in the show, but makes it more accessible to people. Really fun one to watch and not that long a watch.

Dark

Another Netflix show, this one about time travel and murder. I will say immediately that this is a show that is better watched sub titled than dubbed. The difference is fairly jarring while watching dubbed. And it’s a show that at least the first season, I need to watch the others, is really good. The time travel is well done and the mystery that is happening in the town works so well. The whole premise just feels like something different. And the title definitely matches what it is.

The show itself isn’t too violent or really contain many jump scares, but the mystery that is progressing throughout the story is just unsettling. The time travel works to make it even more unsettling as you go along. Aesthetically this just works really well.

Supernatural

It’s hard to make a list like this without putting Supernatural on it. I have not watched all of the show, it is a lot to get through. But it is a good show for Halloween because it is monster of the week a lot of the time. Sam and Dean are brothers who know about all the things that go bump in the night. It also has that element of angels and demons throughout the whole series as well.

Now, this is a series that you could start watching now and probably continue until Halloween of 2022, so much longer than most. And it is repetitive in what it does. But the first couple of seasons are more horror focused and tell an interesting story. Then after that it will get into more spoopy than spooky at times, but it’s still fun. There is just a ton of it so beware.

Helix

This one might be harder to track down, but this was a SyFy channel show that was basically The Thing, but not. An experiment goes wrong on the south pole and this disease or thing is spreading to people on the base. Is it an accident or is there some more nefarious plan behind it. The fact that I’m asking that question means that there is a more nefarious plot behind it, but how it unfolds is good. And who is infected and how they try and avoid getting infected works really well.

This, I think, had two seasons on SyFy. I can’t vouch for the second season, but the first is worth a watch by itself. This horror is all about the suspense of the unknown and is probably more traditional horror and jump scares than almost anything else on the list.

What Are Your Favorite Shows to Watch at Halloween?

I know there are a lot of horror shows out there that I didn’t mention and some that are more spooky than spoopy. There are shows like Grim which I need to watch again that I really liked. But are there any out there, knowing my tastes, that you think I’d like?

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