Total Confusion 2014 - Part One!

We made our annual trip up to Mansfield Massachusetts for New England's largest game convention, Total Con 28! We have so many games to talk about we decided to break the trip up into 2 parts. Basically, both episodes will just be chock full of Reviews, Impressions, and Session reports! Below is a list of the games we talk about in this episode. 

Salmon Run - Eagle Grypgon Games

Caverna: The Cave Farmers - Lookout Games

Last Will - Rio Grande & IELLO

The Doom That Came to Atlantic City - Cryptozoic

A Few Acres of Snow - Treefrog & Asmodee

Runebound 2nd Edition - Fantasy Flight Games

Parade - Z Man Games

Mob Town - 5th Street Games

Star Trek Catan - Mayfair

Battlestar Galactica (Exodus Expansion) -  Fantasy Flight Games

Vegas Showdown - Avalon Hill

Letters From Whitechapel - 999 Games / FFG

Basic Role Playing (RPG System) - Chaosium Inc.

New Amsterdam - Pandasaurus / White Goblin Games

One Night Ultimate Werewolf - Bezier Games

INTRODUCTION

 It's our 3 year anniversary episode!!! To celebrate, we have a regular episode! In our intro we talk "for the last time" about our 2014 Support drive and we award a winner of our General Nonsense Games contest winner. Also, where's Matt???

Sponsor - www.generalnonsensegames.com

Support Drive - www.njagp.com

12:00 - QUICK HITS

Jim tells a not-so heartfelt story about his trip to Unpub 4. We give a quick review of Portal Games Legacy: The Testament of Duke de Crecy  , Jeff talks becoming a movie star, and we touch on 12 Realms from Mage Company.

38:20- QUESTION OF THE EPISODE

 "When it comes do co-ops, do you enjoy losing a close game, winning a close game, crushing the game, or getting destroyed by the game?"

47:52 - GAME SPOTLIGHT 

ELDRITCH HORROR by Fantasy Flight Games

The Elder Gods are at it again. Eldrtich Horror is like the close relative to Arkham Horror. We takew a quick look at how the game plays and then tell you if it is living up to the hype. We also do a bit of compare and contrast on both games. Is this the game of the year?

1:12:50 - OUT OF THE BOX

We get a lot of request asking us "How do you get your spouse to play games?" or "How much gaming is too much?" So we spend some time explaining our situations, give some advice on balancing your game time with life, and give some tips for roping in that loved one! 

INTRODUCTION

 We rundown what's coming up in the episode, take a quick look at our sponsor and current contest, and give a quick reminder about our support drive and all the games we're giving away!

Sponsor - www.generalnonsensegames.com

Support Drive - www.njagp.com

7:32 - QUICK HITS

First we give a short update on our plans for our annual trip to Total Confusion Game Convention in febuary. www.totalcon.com Jim reviews two games - Thebes:The Tomb Raiders from Queen Games and Caverna from Mayfair/Lookout Games. Jeff and Matt discuss their feelings after seeing The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

27:11- QUESTION OF THE EPISODE

 "What are some games from your childhood that you still enjoy playing?"

39:11 - GAME SPOTLIGHT 

RAMPAGE by Asmodee/Repos Productions

Rampage is a dexterity game loosely based on the old arcade game of the same name. Players use chunky wooden monsters, cars, and their own breath to blow down buildings and eat the meeple inside. It's silly, it's wacky, it's funny, but is it a good game?

54:20 - LOOKING AHEAD AT 2014

It's hard to see into the future and know what games are coming out and which ones will be good, but we talk about a bunch that we'll be keeping our eyes on in hopes of their 2014 release!

1:05:24 - TOP 5 MANIFESTO

Our top 5 Villains

It's our top 5 Villians! We don't stick to any one genre or platform, these picks span the realm of movies, books, television, history, cartoons, and more! Hear who made our list and and a bunch of listener choices!

INTRODUCTION

 It's a new year and we start it off .... with a recording issue. Don't worry, we tell you all about it at the beginning of the episode. In the rest of the Intro we run through what's coming up in the episode, remind you of our current contest, and talk a bit about our new support drive.

Sponsor - www.generalnonsensegames.com

Support Drive - www.njagp.com

13:44 - QUICK HITS

It's a Jam packed Quick Hits segment! We start things off talking about our geeky hauls for Christmas and a game day we had where Mansions of Madness hit the table in a epic story driven experience. Then, We give some quick thoughts on a couple of games including Trains from AEG, Mage Wars from Arcane Legions, Via Appia from Queen Games, and Eldritch Horror from FFG. 

34:05 - QUESTION OF THE EPISODE

 "What game(s) did you NOT get for Christmas that you're now going to go get yourself?"

40:40 - GAME SPOTLIGHT 

SALMON RUN by Gryphon Games

Salmon Run is a fast-paced racing game which uses deck building mechanics,  in which you'll maneuver your salmon upriver, avoiding obstacles and jumping over waterfalls. It's a light 4 player game with a modular board and a bear meeple! We dive in, and give you the run down on how to play and what we think of the game. 

53:39 - OUT OF THE BOX

Our favorite cheesteak joints & great spots for geeks to visit in Philadelphia

 Well, this one was demanded from you and now we give it to you. Coming to Philly? We tell you where to go (and where not to go) for some of the best Philly cheesteaks in town. We also mention great spots to visit including the best game and comic shops, which museums we think you should check out, and a couple other cool geeky locations.

INTRODUCTION

It's our final episode of 2013! It's a shorter episode but we pack in a couple of quick reviews, our question of the episode, and we follow up episode 39's "movies we'd like to see made into boardgames" with our top 5 "boardgames that would make great movies"! We continue a  contest to give a way a free copy of our sponsor General Nonsense Games newest game, "Dice and Daggers"!

www.generalnonsensegames.com

4:03 - QUESTION OF THE EPISODE

 "What trumps when deciding on buying a game: theme, mechanics, or designer?"

9:57 - GAME REVIEWS

 We take a look at these titles: Bioshock:Infinite from Plaid Hat Games - King of Tokyo: Halloween Expansion from Iello - Circus Train (2nd Edition) from Victory Point Games, and Council of Verona from Crash Games.

55:30 - TOP 5 MANIFESTO 

Board games that would make great movies

OK, maybe we should say board games we'd like to see made into great movies. We span the thematic realm in this one as well as mention some of our listeners choices. It's a lot of fun!