Finally, an Actual-Play Worth Listening To
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“I don't listen to actual play podcasts. I don't watch them on You Tube or Twitch. I don't like them. They aren't good. They are bad. All of them. "But wait!" you say, "Perhaps you haven't listened to my favorite AP! It's actually good! I promise." It isn't. Its bad. They're all bad. Yes, even that one with the actors and the 10 million dollar cartoon. Its bad. They're all bad. Maybe that's too harsh - maybe they just aren't for me.
Or so I thought. I'm not sure why I tried Sounds Like Crowes. I remember thinking to myself, "Look, another actual play. Bad, probably." I'd stumbled across Game Master Caleb Sundsted's Twitter profile a few times, I'd seen his cool-as-hell Crowe's t-shirt and read his wry tweets. Maybe it was the wry tweets.
I grabbed a few episodes before a cross-country flight and gave 'em a listen. What I discovered was that not all APs are bad - and that Sounds Like Crowes is in fact very, very good. The audio is clean with nearly zero background noise, the edits are well done and maintain the flow of the story while still representing that this is a game and the dice are steering many of the outcomes. While Caleb and the boys do voices for their characters, none of them sound cheesy or annoy - a common problem with APs. My mind was blown. Here I was travling 550mph at 30,000 feet and my entire perception of the RPG actual play had been changed by a group of gamers from Colorado.
The folks behind Crowes define their characters by consistent role-play. For the listeners, this is similar to how we learn about characters in good books or films. The Crowe boys are fleshed out, characters with histories, experiences, and secrets that not even all of the other players in the game know.
The show meters out this character exposition with an uncommon dose of style and skill as the characters reveal details about their histories with each other through role-play and dialog. No one utters the phrase "I am a half-orc fighter who's parents were killed by halflings and I seek vengeance." Instead, we learn about the characters piece by piece - their actions and their interactions with others define these characters in such a way that we, the listeners, can often predict what they might do in a given situation. "Oh, Able isn't going to let that go unchallenged!" "What's Lucky going to say about that?" "Thaddeus is going to make a mess of this when he finds out..."
Do yourself a favor and give Sounds Like Crowes a Listen. Its an Actually Good Actual Play (AGAP). The first few episodes are maybe a little slow for some, but I found them delightful. If that is an issue for you, don't despair. The pacing accelerates as the story progresses.”Read full review »
Adam "CriticalEyeRpg" Anderson via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
05/08/19
More reviews of Sounds Like Crowes
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“Sounds Like Crowes is just what I’ve been looking for. Growing up in the south and being Native American, was be always loved westerns but have a problem finding ones that don’t make me feel gross. This show has given me that long childhood long dream of a western where it’s okay to be Indian....”Read full review »
ErcMan013 via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
09/21/21
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“I was tipped off to this podcast on Reddit, and I'm so glad that I was! In the world of actual play podcasts there are clear winners, obvious fails, and some pretty good tries scattered in-between. Sounds Like Crowes is a clear winner for a plethora of reasons. Namely, it's story, RPG system, and...”Read full review »
Jenna C via ·
12/22/17
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“Look no further you’ve just stumbled upon one of the greatest shows I’ve ever encountered”
vern the green via Apple Podcasts ·
Canada ·
01/21/24
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