This week I tell Julius all about the GMT Games title Banish the Snakes.  You play as St. Patrick or some of the other saints that worked to convert Ireland to Christianity as the Roman Empire and Roman Britain and collapsed.  This is a really interesting historical title that plays very similarly to a Pandemic but with the complexity taken up a notch or two.   Banish the Snakes (BGG, GMT Games)

This week Julius tells us about Skytear Horde.  A cooperative card game not too unlike M:tG.  In it you play cards to cast spells and summon allies.  A rift has torn the sky open and from that tear emerges a horde of demons, more or less one at a time in a pretty orderly fashion to defeat you!  You can play solo or cooperatively to defeat this horde and their boss! Skytear Horder (BGG, Skytear)

This week I preset a cool little 2-player dueling game which also includes solo rules.  The game is set in an alternate history earth around the time (and place) of Genghis Khan. Worldbreakers (BGG, Worldbreakers website)

This week Julius and I talk about the relatively new game, Skoventyr.  This was designed by Morten Monrad Pederson and produced by Shadi Torbey (of Oniverse fame).  This is a light but fun game of running around the forest trying to escape from the devil, or Gamle Erik as he is known in Danish folklore.   Skoventyr (BGG)

This week Julius and I manage to fit a bunch of games into a small 30 minute space.  This Popular Mechanics episode is about polyomino games with their funny shaped pieces.  Think Tetris. Cartographers (BGG) Kingdom Rush (BGG) Spring Meadow (BGG) Nmbr 9 (BGG) ROVE: Results-Oriented Versatile Explorer (BGG) Clip Cut Parcs (BGG) Honorable Mentions Eureka journal of recreational mathematics (Cambridge) Cottage Garden (BGG) Indian Summer (BGG) Project L (BGG) Isle of Cats (BGG) Feast for Odin...

This week, Julius tells us about the cooperative game, Keep the Heroes Out!, in which, well, you are trying to keep heroes out of your dungeon.  You play as one of a number of dungeon denizens.  You'll go is to keep the wave after wave of pesky humans out of your dungeon by killing them, all while trying to do some other, scenario based thingy.   It's a super-cute looking game with a neat theme.  From all Julius tells us, it was very nicely implemented and lots of fun.  Check it out!   Keep...

In a galaxy far, far away you get to be a bounty hunter after your next target.  Nothing will stop you though many enemies will try to get in your way.  Notorious is a solo journalling RPG about being a bounty hunter in a hardscrabble world.

Unable to record this week, Julius's family picks up my slack by talking about the Adventures of Robin Hood.  This is an adventure game in which players cooperatively, or one player controlling multiple heroes, explores Sherwood Forrest as Robin Hood and his Merry Men (in tights). Their description of it and the look of it reminds me a lot of the excellent video game Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood.   The Adventures of Robin Hood (BGG) Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood (Steam)

This week Julius tells us about the solo game Wreckland Run. It's a Mad Max kinda world and you are racing around collecting spare parts and building up your arsenal of a car in a short 7 game campaign game.  This is part of the Solo Heroes series from Renegade Games.  See what Julius thinks and how he ranks it against the rest.  Hint:  this one doesn't even rank for him!   Wreckland Run (Renegade Game Studios, BGG)

This week Julius and I look at games with modular boards.  It's one of my favorite "mechanics" in a game.  I really like games where the setup is different each round and it affects how the game plays out.  The bigger the impact, the better!   Clank! In Space (BGG) Under Falling Skies (BGG) Keep the Heroes Out (BGG) Descent (BGG) 7th Continent (BGG) Forbidden Island (BGG) PARKS (BGG) Five Tribes (BGG) Magic Maze (BGG) Carcassone (BGG)

I was out with COVID so Julius and family picked up my slack and revisited a cool little game called PARKS.  Visit the National Parks in a very pretty game with an interesting solo bot.  But do they like it?

This week Julius and I look at the charming little trick taking game For Northwood!.  It's a fun and interesting game in a tiny package.   For Northwood! (BGG) Solo trick-taking games (BGG)

This week I was lost in time.  Julius and family picked up my slack and took an anachronistic look at a Jurrasic Park legacy game Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar.  It sounds like a fun family experience and a good solo game. Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar (BGG) Warning: there are spoilers sprinkled throughout this episode.

I've always been curious about this game but have never tried it.  Julius does me the curteousy of telling me all about how it works.  It sounds like a fun, light and puzzling experience but not as cold as being up on the side of a mountain.   K2 (BGG, Rebel.pl)

This episode comes out 12 years to the day after the 1st podcast!  Huzzah!  Just to liven things up a bit, Julius and I decided to do something a bit different (just a bit) and make this popular mechanics episode about Kickstarter and Kickstarter games.  Julius had some interesting points about Kickstarter as a tool and platform and I especially enjoyed looking through all the various items I've backed before and seeing how far things have come.   Kickstarter

This week Julius and I get Space Hulk: Death Angel back to the table.  This is the classic game of dying a brutal death and just watching your team of Space Marines get decimated by a bunch of alien scum.  This is a cooperative game published by Fantasy Flight games and is based on Games Workshop's Warhammer 40K universe.  It's  a well loved solo game that is now long out of print but come see it fairs after a very long hiatus on the 1 Player Podcast.

This week Julius and I talk about Legacy of Yu, from Shem Phillips and Garphill Games.  This is part of their Ancients Anthology collection by the same designer.  Unlike those games, this game is made for solitaire play only. It's a resource management game with a legacy aspect to it.  You will play until you have either won seven games or lost seven games.

This week we revisit a mechanic Julius quite likes in the form of a game called Black Angel.  Honestly though, we don't talk about that mechanic much at all.  The mechanic in question is a scrolling board that we encountered in Solenia about a year ago or so.  Black Angel uses that same mechanic and a whole lot more in a bigger more complex package with much more vibracity! Black Angel (BGG) Real Black Angel by MC 900 Ft Jesus with DJ Zero (YouTube)

This week we look at a classic fantasy gamebook from the 90s, or more accurately, we look at a few books in the Fabled Lands series.  These are some rather unique gamebooks in that they are open ended and you are able to explore freely, travelling on a map in each book.  You can even travel between the books and progress through them as your character levels up.  There are seven books in the series, plus one traditional style gamebook and even a novella.  Best of all, they are still available...

This week we are back to Popular Mechanics.  Well, sort of. I'm back but Julius is on vacation so I have a special guest. It's the return of Deborah from Geek Gamers!  She chose the episode's mechanic and it led to some interesting discussions and a small bit of confusion.  There's a bit of audio issues.. sorry about that.  Fortunately, it doesn't linger around very long at all. 07:30 - League of Dungeoneers (BGG) 12:00 - Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of Ashardalon (BGG) 18:30 - Mistfall...

Let's take a look at Merchants of the Dark Road.  This is a 1-4 player competitive game that includes an automa for solo play.  It's a beautiful looking game with lots of shiny components (if you get the deluxe version) but got mixed feedback from our Julius. Merchants of the Dark Road (BGG, Elf Creek Games) Deluxe edition (Elf Creek Games)

This week we talk about the vertical scrolling, space shoot-em up game, The Battle at Kemble's Cascade.  Don't worry though.  This isn't a video game but a board game with a theme of a space shooter video game.  It's a pretty unique concept that does a great job of simulating a video game.  It's a lot of fun but it does have a few small issues.   The Battle at Kemble's Cascade (BGG)

This week Julius talks about the Wyrd Miniatures game, Vagrantsong.  The publisher is known for making miniatures games but this one uses plastic standies instead.  This is a tactical combat game with a campaign.  Think Gloomhaven or Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion but without quite the oomph of those games.

This week Julius tells me all about the game Resist!.  This is a game about the Spanish maquis during the Spanish Revolution.  You take control of a number of maquis and complete missions by fighting the defenders at the location.  This is a deck-building game, though come to think of it, I didn't get the impression there is a lot of deck building involved but maybe I just missed that.  Anyway, it's a cool looking game with really nice art that also sounds very fun.

This week Julius and I finally return to our Popular Mechanic series.  In this brief episode, we talk about games that are "one and done".   Basically you play the game once and then can move on from that game, never to return... EVER.  Maybe.