November 10, 2010 News that a genetic algorithm has cracked the Starcraft code prompts Troy to ask the panel about the place of build orders and in-stone strategies in the genre. Julian talks about chess and Hoard, Rob talks about the beauty of a game that opens up and Troy sucks at everything.Also news on the upcoming DC area fall meetup. November 20th, btw.

November 4, 2010 No one was in much of a mood to talk about anything this week, but we did it anyway and it was almost topical. Gameshark's Bill Abner joins Troy and Rob for a rambling chat about election games they've played, election games they haven't played and whether the dream election game they imagine is even possible.Bill also gets mysterious messages from a lost soldier.

October 27, 2010 Bruce Geryk returns to the show to give special guest Michael Abbot a hard time in a discussion that is intended to focus on the ethical and moral dimension of wargames and wargaming, but ranges all over the place, including a sidetrack into why people get into wargames to begin with. Rob Zacny tries to keep things on topic and Julian Murdoch explains why Defcon makes him cry and his daughter says the smartest thing in the hour.

October 21, 2010 Hellmode's Ashelia (aka Rhea Monique) joins Rob and Julian for a discussion of how strategy games can learn from other genres.Rob also coins the Old Country Buffet approach to strategy game design.

October 14, 2010 Troy and Rob start the show with a talk about what Derek Paxton's move to Stardock means for Elemental and the future of Stardock.They then segue into a discussion about logistics and supply rules constrain the player in interesting ways. Rob tells another wargame anecdote, we debate whether an AI really understands supply rules and again talk about the best RTS ever made.This is the October pledge drive, as well, so stay tuned to the end for another plea for money. Not for beer.

October 7, 2010 Julian and Rob are joined by Rob Daviau (Hasbro) and Chris Remo (Irrational) to talk about how games let us give in to our worst impulses and betray our friends. Neptune's Pride, Risk, Weinhandler, Starcraft and a dozen other games come up.

September 30, 2010 One guest cancels, but his shoes are ably filled by Gameshark's Todd Brakke as Troy, Julian and Rob hold forth on the game that has already eaten Troy's life - and he has to keep writing about it for at least another month.Listen as the team talks about their favorite innovations in Civ 5, how the map brings the game to life, why the AI's failures are so disappointing, social policy vs civics and hopes for the future.And Julian is on drugs.

September 23, 2010 This week, Rob takes the lead and sings the praises of RUSE, the new WW2 RTS from Ubisoft and Eugen Systems. Troy and Julian push him on the differences between the single and multiplayer components, whether it uses real deception and some rambling bits about World War 2 games in general. Rob's review at Gameshark Rock Paper Shotgun RUSE discussion

September 17, 2010 Unavailable when we needed him, but still game for a show, Victoria 2's lead designer Chris King joins Troy and Rob for a discussion of Marxist economic models, why they are so many rebels and why he bothered redesigning Vicky in the first place.

September 8, 2010 A terrible launch of a game I wanted to love turns what should have been a "WOW" show into another opportunity for Brad Wardell to explain how Stardock screwed up. Listen how imperfect QA practices, overconfidence, groupthink and not taking every beta crash report seriously turned one of the years most anticipated new IPs into a lesson for developers And also, how Stardock commits to make things right - including refunds. (Ask them. I have no idea what the mechanics are.) Rob's review Troy's review Tom's review

September 1, 2010 This week, the sound is terrible again mostly because my wireless refuses to cooperate. Big promise to fix this next week - I thought I had the problem solved.But if you bear with us, you will hear Troy and Rob answer some questions from listeners about logistics, making losing fun, why games are released unfinished and a dozen other topics.

August 25, 2010 Rob Zacny's sound goes in and out, but when it works you can hear him, Troy and Julian talk about the latest grand strategy game from Paradox. Why does it make Julian angry? Do you have to force the politics to make them interesting? What does the game get right and wrong about the nineteenth century?A reminder about the upcoming question show and a preview of coming attractions. Rob's review at Gameshark

August 19, 2010 Troy and Rob dig through their histories to recall bad games that had tiny moments of genius. What happens when a game gets one thing right? Can forgotten games still have a legacy beyond their failures? Can a good idea overshadow a bad game's legacy?Also reminders of the Question show coming up in a couple of week's time. "Noble Junk" post Epic Fails podcast Rob's Making History 2 review

August 10, 2010 Troy - suffering from a splitting headache - is joined by Rob Zacny, Tom Chick (hooray) and Idle Thumbs/Gamasutra star Chris Remo before he heads off to join Irrational Games. The topic: Starcraft 2. Why does such a competitive, sports structured game like SC2 have such wide appeal? Is the single player campaign really that different from other campaigns? And how about that writing? What are the great joys and great disappointments? Finally, what does Starcraft 2 mean for the future of the PC RTS? Troy's Starcraft 2 review Tom's Starcraft 2 review Rob's thoughts Idle Thumbs podcast FoS/TMA Meetup details

August 3, 2010 Troy, Julian and Rob are joined by Maxis Games' Soren Johnson and Fall From Heaven 2 lead Derek Paxton in a chat about modding. How do you assemble a mod team? What are the trade offs for developers and publishers in supporting mods? Scope and ambition and talent poaching and creativity.Also news on our upcoming question and answer show and the TMA/FoS meetup. Fall From Heaven 2 Strategy Station Meet Up Discussion