cornchip

I don't think Civ 5 ruined the franchise, but I did partially enjoy this episode because Civ 5 is controversial and has a fatter tail of opinions about it than of Civ 4. You know that Soren and Jon must have some strong opinions about each other's work. That context made the discussion so much more interesting to me.

I haven't listened to the show yet, but that list of referenced games has me *really* looking forward to it!

This episode felt like a very special crossover episode between 3ma and Game Design Roundtable. As a close listener of both shows, I didn't mind! I actually appreciated the choice of the word party, because Rabbitcon sounds exactly like something I do with a dozen or so college friends for one long weekend a year. We are looking for exactly the same sorts of games that Dave and Rob were questing for, and play many of the same games mentioned at this get-together for the same reasons. I have been searching for my "next game" along these lines for a few months and recently realized that game is Quartermaster General. Now, playing a WW2-themed game with a map doesn't seem very party-like, but this game plays about as fast as you like and has sweet spots at 2, 4, 5 and 6 (best number) players. While it's not simultaneous, the turns are short unless other players respond to actions, keeping them included. The rules explanation is literally five minutes and the special cases are on the cards. There is a tournament mercy rule that works very well for casual play and, combined with the way the game respects your time, increases the chance that the partygoers will be up for another game. Also: Quartermaster General is a two-team game (Axis vs. Allies.) I think that this, along with simultaneous turns, is one of the great mechanics of engagement in large-player-count games. For actual party games I recommend A Fake Artist Goes to New York.

I really enjoyed this episode. I can't think of two games besides Civ 4/5 that would cause such interesting discussion about what was changed or not changed as the series progressed. The contrasts between the 'perfect' and 'most successful' Civ gave me a lot to think about. And yes, there is something really useful about a history-CS major!

I agree this episode had trouble getting past discussing the game on its and the player community's terms. That itself was interesting, so no worries. More Michael!

Really enjoyed this episode.

My first game of new Xcom was EW on Ironman Normal and it was an extraordinarily good experience! I lost, of course, after about six hours, but I have rarely been so invested in a game campaign. I think the only reason not to play without save states is if progression in the game is too unlikely given your time window to play. In Xcom, you progress to the end of the game whether you're winning or losing, so you never get stuck. Of course, this depends on you thinking your failure as Xcom commander is a valid game ending.

I would love commands like search and destroy, harass, etc.! Way back with games like Conquest of the New World we could tell explorers to auto-explore, ships to scout the coast, and so on. Admittedly I haven't played The Settlers since 3, but the resource-creating workers were fairly intelligent and contrasted starkly with the soldiers who did the traditional standing around until given a move order.

Absolutely there's a Ground Control feel to the game. I'm okay with it. I love the majestic feel of the game. I don't think that its speed/buildup time is acceptable for competitive play. Though, the skimmers do get out quickly and a couple early kills affect the game. How to make a game majestic-slow while providing early and frequent decisions is a tough design challenge.

(I haven't listened to the episode yet but) I believe the biggest real trample card is Kraken, which was 11/11 but ate land. Curious if anyone can point to any Designer Notes or 3ma episodes that touch on Dr. Geryk himself - seems like he does a good job cultivating enjoyment of his hobby in his local area as well as online through podcasting. It is always interesting to hear from people who are enthusiastic about something, have the resources to fully experience it and can explain all that articulately.

Interesting. As a resident of Northern Illinois who wants to become a part-time game publisher, it's good to hear we live in a cornucopia of printers.

Aside from the strategic discussion, I enjoyed this because Rebellion was the last game I obsessed over. I read every article I could find, screenshot, every inch of the box, etc. I had a dim thought at the time that it was an unusual game in a (largely) good way and I'm a bit pleased to see that others agree.

For anyone else who couldn't get hexgrid's link to work, it's this game: http://js13kgames.com/games/compact-conflict/index.html It's a fun one!

As a fan of both 3ma and SU&SD it's always good to listen to these kinds of episodes. I just wanted someone to say "Evil Genius" once - it's a game where you build and maintain a Bond villain's island lair. Prisoner maintenance and exploitation (in a classically evil way) is a big part of the game. And, unlike Prison Architect, Evil Genius does not end in an equilibrium state because the heroes who attack the island fortress grow stronger and more cunning over time. Prison Architect certainly models more complex and realistic behavior, though, and I enjoyed the discussion of it.

I agree it feels bad when you waste a whole action on a miss and I'm okay with people developing support mechanisms (viewing a random number, etc.) to deal with it. I think the only long-term solution is to play a lot of games quickly so your true skill level starts to become more evident. I like when games support this. To tie into the remark near the end about showing more statistics, I'd like to see more meta-stats that highlight a player's strengths in the face of bad luck, weak areas subsidized by good luck, and so on. And I think 'illusions summoned' should be in a range (or better yet, HOMM-style groupings. Zounds...illusions.)

Yes, and there is also grid layout support for Dvorak users! I focus on the keyboard when I beta-test games and got that feature request directly added by a Blizzard employee.

1 & 2: the game has 'AI' for each leader, a flowchart/process that tells you what decisions to have them make. You can actually play the game with 0 people and watch the flowcharts duke it out. Supposedly they're not bad! I'm not the best guide to games, but do check out Twilight Struggle if you haven't yet.

Really happy to see the Patreon, and backed, of course. I of course would like to see the stretch goals exist, but I am concerned that they'll take too much ongoing extra work. If you decide to scale back to making the rewards quarterly, I think that would be totally fair. (I also dislike Kickstarter stretch goals that have a variable cost per item!)

I liked the brief discussion about the possible management bottleneck at Firaxis. Between this and Starships, I've been thinking that something is wrong over there on the execution side. I hope they can sort it out soon.