If you can choose to be the regular version or the spicy version, you obviously choose the spicy version. I mean, sure, the capsaicin may sting, but one assumes that the canonical version is caliente. Put another way, would you prefer "SVWAG" or "SVWAG en fuego?" The choice is clear. It is a corollary of sorts to Winston Zeddemore axiom that when someone asks you if you are a god, you say yes. Games Played Last Week: 01:33 -Under Our Sun (Maximilian Lichtner and David Poluda, tab...
Jan 28, 2025•2 hr 36 min•Transcript available on Metacast "Robert! This here is velvet--not velveteen. A gentleman must learn the difference." -Gilbert Fontaine de la Tour D'Haute Rive Games Played Last Week: 01:53 -Fishing (Friedemann Friese, 2F-Spiele, 2024) 08:04 -Revive (Helge Meissner, Eilif Svensson, Anna Wermlund, and Kristian Amundsen Østby, Aporta Games, 2022) 10:46 -SCOUT (Kei Kajino, Oink Games, 2019) 14:33 -MLEM: Space Agency (Reiner Knizia, Rebel Studio, 2024) 16:53 -Unconscious Mind (Laskas, Jonny Pac, Yoma, and Antonio Zax, F...
Jan 21, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast The editorial department of So Very Wrong About Games has several sub-divisions, and admittedly the orgchart gets a bit baroque at this point. The rules errors office is technically a sub-branch of the fact checking desk, but it is funded out of the game design sub-budget. This muddies the line of accountability, and as anyone who works with gibbons can tell you, this is not ideal. 03:53 AYURIS: Lacrimosa (Gerard Ascendi and Ferran Renalias, Devir, 2022) Games Played Last Week: 05:20 -Endeavor: ...
Jan 14, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast It has come to our attention that there has been a great deficiency in SVWAG through the years, namely our shameful neglect of the French language. The sheer Gaul! Games Played Last Week: 01:34 -The Isle of Cats Duel (Frank West, The City of Games, 2024) 04:28 -Res Arcana: Lux et Tenebrae (Thomas Lehman, Sand Castle Games, 2019) 08:00 -Worldspanner Factions (Brett G. Murrell, Worldspanner, 2024) 17:44 -The Crew: Mission Deep Sea (Thomas Sing, KOSMOS, 2021) 20:30 -Atiwa (Uwe Rosenberg, Lookout Ga...
Jan 07, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Trust the launcher. 01:28 AYURIS: Darwin’s Journey (Simone Luciani and Nestore Mangone, ThunderGryph Games, 2023) Games Played Last Week: 03:49 -Iron Forest (Brian Gomez, Brain Games, 2024) 10:22 -Slide Quest (Nicolas Bourgoin & Jean-François Rochas, Blue Orange, 2019) 14:00 -The Gang (John Cooper and Kory Heath, KOSMOS, 2024) 17:08 -Harmonies (Johan Benvenuto, Libellud, 2024) 19:23 -Set a Watch (Mike Gnade and Todd Walsh, Rock Manor Games, 2019) 23:12 -Endeavor: Age of Expansion (Jarratt Gr...
Dec 31, 2024•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Walker's glorious return portends a bumper crop of games to discuss, so we will forego a feature game or topic this week in favour of a deluge. 02:11 AYURIS: Stationfall (Matt Eklund, Ion Game Design, 2023) Games Played Last Week: 07:08 -Tiny Mini Golf (Kamis Kamiński, Self-published, 2023) 12:46 -Green Team Wins (Nathan Thornton, 25th Century Games, 2022) 15:33 -Flip 7 (Eric Olsen, The Op Games, 2024) 18:08 -The LOOP (Maxime Rambourg and Théo Rivière, Pandasaurus Games, 2020) 20:20 -Civolut...
Dec 24, 2024•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast In addition to having to struggle with new hardware on account of gravity murdering his tablet of 10+ years, we now must try to adjust to capturing the sweet, sonorous tones of the elusive Jimbo. It's hard to get audio levels right when the mic's compressor itself swoons from sheer bliss. 02:43 AYURIS: Revive (Helge Meissner, Eilif Svensson, Anna Wermlund, and Kristian Amundsen Østby, Aporta Games, 2022) Games Played Last Week: 06:28 -Civolution (Stefan Feld, Deep Print Games, 2024) 19:4...
Dec 17, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're trying this YouTube thing in earnest, now, doing the video podcasting thing. This is our inaugural attempt at plastering our mugs on the internet in a podcast form. You have to be where your audience is, and also, Mark hopes that a link to a video can serve in lieu of his having to travel to see anyone ever again. https://www.youtube.com/@SoVeryWrongAboutGames Games Played Last Week: 01:08 -This Is Not a Test: Post-Apocalyptic Skirmish Rules (Joseph McGuire, Worlds End Publishing, 2013...
Dec 10, 2024•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast All of our musical references are at least a decade out of date, even when we attempt to reference contemporary artists--I must assume, because Mark knows her name, that no one listens to Billie Eilish anymore. We think Drake is suing Kendrick Lamar over claims he plagiarized a board game design, but the details elude us. 01:43 AYURIS: Gatefall (Jack Dire, Jack Dire Studios, 2020) Games Played Last Week: 05:09 -The Gang (John Cooper and Kory Heath, KOSMOS, 2024) 07:45 -Jekyll & Hyde vs Scotl...
Dec 03, 2024•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast When you are obliged to cite your sources is a fraught question, full of nuance. Even in academia there is some disagreement as to when yo quote, when to paraphrase, and when simply to assume common knowledge. Like the preceding sentence, for example--I assume it is common knowledge not requiring a citation, but then again maybe not, and were I using footnotes here I would comment on the absurdity of citations in episode notes (to say nothing of footnoting episode notes). And don't get me st...
Nov 26, 2024•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Apparently there were scrapped plans for the Gorn (the lumbering rubber lizard suit dude Kirk fights in that famous episode) to show up in other Star Trek properties. One plan had a Gorn show up as Worf's guest to Riker's bachelor party in Nemesis, and frankly despite how awful those latter movies were I would have been all over that. I can only imagine that the plan was abandoned when the props department couldn't get a styrofoam cocktail to look right. 01:42 AYURIS: The Wolves (Ash...
Nov 18, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Thrill to the latest superhero epic, "X-Men: Layover in Dulles." When the Blackbird is grounded due to an unexplained indicator light (meddling from the sinister Magneto? Who can say?!?!), the elite group of heroic mutants must navigate the perils of terminal D. Wolverine is having problems with the metal detectors again, which is troublesome as he is smuggling Cuban cigars. Rogue must battle the temptation of the 15-minute massage station. Panera bread keeps getting Cyclops' order w...
Nov 12, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Walker: But, indeed, sir, we make holiday, to see Freedom Five and to rejoice in its triumph. Mark: Wherefore rejoice? What delight brings it home? What enjoyment follows it to the table, To grace in fun times its board presence? You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things! Games Played Last Week: 01:08 -Freedom Five: A Sentinel Comics Board Game (Richard Launius, Adam Sadler, and Brady Sadler, Arcane Wonders, 2024) 10:51 -Things in Rings (Peter C. Hayward, Allplay, 2024) 13:46 -City...
Oct 29, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast An auspicious palindrome of an episode number! Granted, in triple digits one encounters a palindrome every ten episodes or so, but I'm sure the numerologists amongst us have special enthusiasm for the mighty TRIP THREE. I mean, primes, and threes, and all that. Anyway, it'll be a minute until we reach episode TRIP FOUR, so let's savour this while we can. 01:10 AYURIS: Mille Fiori (Reiner Knizia, Schmidt Spiele, 2021) Games Played Last Week: 04:06 -Lunar Rush (Steven "Skippy" ...
Oct 22, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Once again, a primer on some of the differences between the US and Canada. We Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in early October, in honour of our second governor general, the Right Honourable October G. Thanksington. Rather than turkey and football, we do latkes and rugby. Games Played Last Week: 00:55 -Black Forest (Tido Lorenz and Uwe Rosenberg, Feuerland Spiele, 2024) 09:36 -Bargain Hunter (Uwe Rosenberg, Valley Games, 1998) 12:21 -Unreliable Wizard (Kamibayashi, Salt & Pepper Games, 2024...
Oct 15, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast It is October, the month of Fat Bear Week, Decorative Gourd Season, Halloween, and Arkhipov Day! Sure, it has less candy than some of those other celebrations, but I'll wager neither a corpulent bear nor a kid dressed as a pirate has ever saved the entire human race. 01:00 AYURIS: IKI (Koota Yamada, Sorry We Are French, 2015) Games Played Last Week: 03:38 -Valka (Brooke Penrose, Terrible Games, 2024) 07:16 -Bus (Jeroen Doumen and Joris Wiersinga, Capstone Games, 2019) 09:47 -Warpgate: Beyond...
Oct 08, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Generally we here at SVWAG prefer sci-fi to fantasy, especially if it is of the general sort. There is something joyous about the weird flights of fancy that sci-fi can enable, such as Andromeda's Edge with its "Jelluloid Technoblorps." That said, there's something particularly odious about importing generic fantasy into your sci-fi, like space dwarves and space dragons--something Andromeda's Edge also does. Call it a wash. Games Played Last Week: 01:01 -Harmonies (Johan Benv...
Sep 24, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you replayed all the published SVWAG episodes back-back, it would take over 355 hours, or almost 15 days. This is not necessarily how we would recommend you spend your time. Indeed, for our purposes, we are equally wrong regardless of whether anyone is there to hear it; while we sometimes engage with Western philosophy due to Mark's academic background, the realm of the koan is beyond our purview. Long story short, feel free to re-download all our episodes to your heart's content. I&#...
Sep 17, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Transcript available on Metacast I find so many mnemonics to be profoundly disappointing. Unless there's a structural element to tie the components together, a mnemonic will not serve to dispositively disambiguate a dyad. I assure you, that lamentable bit of alliteration was unintentional. For example, "I before E except after C" also works qua slogan as "I after E except before C." There are the ones about beer and liquor, feeding or starving a cold, colour of the sky and sailors' states of mind... I re...
Sep 10, 2024•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Solidarity, dear listeners, on this most august September Labour Day. Of course, Labour Day is the labour holiday invented for the US and Canada so as to undermine global solidarity. Nearly everywhere else celebrates International Workers' Day instead. One must marvel at the ingenuity of inventing Labour Day so as to undermine global labour solidarity. 02:29 AYURIS: Rolling Heights (John D. Clair, AEG, 2023) Games Played Last Week: 06:59 -Harmonies (Johan Benvenuto, Libellud, 2024) 09:49 -Fl...
Sep 03, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Some important editorial notes! -the game walker mentioned is Völuspá, and no we don't know what work those accents are doing; -SVWAG does not engage in the eating of seal meat (no one's thought to offer, really); -we hope that Undaunted 2200: Callisto will follow in Battle of Britain's excellent example of having a badass Sikh pilot. Games Played Last Week: 01:02 -Nocturne (David Iezzi, Flatout Games, 2024) 03:24 -Cosmic Encounter (Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge, Bill Norton, Peter Olo...
Aug 27, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast The full title of the Spider Lord is Spider the Third, by the Grace of God of the Unfinished Basement, Canada and His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Subterranean, Defender of the Faith. 01:56 AYURIS: Ginkgopolis (Xavier Georges, Pearl Games, 2012) Games Played Last Week: 05:02 -Knarr (Thomas Dupont, Bombyx, 2023) 08:12 -Primal: The Awakening (Tommaso Mondadori and Alberto Parisi, Reggie Games, 2024) 12:55 -Beowulf: The Legend (Reiner Knizia, KOSMOS, 2005) 19:19 -Pavlov's Hous...
Aug 20, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast It is Festivus once again here at SVWAG, where we shall once again vent our collective spleen over features of games that irk us. Sometimes we will assert that our umbrage is righteous and ought to be shared, and other times we will concede we are merely motivated by idiosyncratic pique. Our feelings, in either case, shall not be denied. 00:46 AYURIS: Beowulf: The Legend (Reiner Knizia, KOSMOS, 2005) Games Played Last Week: 04:21 -Terminus (Earl Aspiras and Tom Volpe, Inside Up Games, 2024) 08:5...
Aug 13, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Who is this Wilmot? What wares is he housing? Few answers are offered. We are merely told, rather imperiously, that we work at his warehouse. Sure, we have weekends off, but on occasion the fickle demiurge Wilmot commands us to speak in monosyllable, or move seats, or hide secrets from our colleagues. One shudders to imagine what terrible fate befalls those foolhardy enough to flout his edicts. Games Played Last Week: 00:41 -Terminus (Earl Aspiras and Tom Volpe, Inside Up Games, 2024) 10:15 -Hou...
Aug 06, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast We here at SVWAG take pains to differentiate between two conflated ideas. We say "approachable" for rulesets that are easily learned and internalized, reserving the similar-sounding term "accessible" to refer to games that are usable for people with disabilities. Relatedly, MICHAEL WALKER IS BACK. 02:43 AYURIS: Oak (Wim Goossens, Game Brewer, 2022) Games Played Last Week: 04:25 -Friday (Friedemann Friese, 2F-Spiele, 2011) 07:12 -Fast Sloths (Friedemann Friese, 2F-SPiele, 2019) 10...
Jul 30, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest host this week is the estimable Mark Besada of the Golden Geek Award-winning podcast, Board Game Barrage! Known as the Green Tank because he is more swole than the Hulk (rumours persist that Lou Ferrigno learned all he knew about bodybuilding from Mark), he nonetheless exudes generosity and hospitality. Unless you throw down in Ghost Blitz, that is. Then it's Go Time. Games Played Last Week: 02:31 -Skytear Horde: Monoliths (Giacomo Neri and Riccardo Neri, Skytear Games, 2024) 07:39...
Jul 23, 2024•1 hr 25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest host during Michael Walker's recovery is Efka Bladukas, half of No Pun Included! Efka is an internationally-renowned board game critic and dog enthusiast, known for his detestation of whimsy and tireless tolerance of Mark's yammerings. He once split a mountain in twain with his bare hands while simultaneously inventing cold fusion, but he's so humble he'll probably deny it--which is proof positive that it's all true. Games Played Last Week: 01:37 -Captain Flip ...
Jul 16, 2024•2 hr 36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our first guest host while Michael Walker is recovering is James de Moss, aka Jimbo! Many a human being has become lost in the deep recesses of Jimbo's sonorous voice, and thus one must take care lest you become consumed by his powerful charisma. Jimbo brings his extensive experience of digital board games, and board game adaptations, to SVWAG. 02:29 AYURIS: Planet Unknown Games Played Last Week: 06:13 -Skytear Horde: Monoliths (Giacomo Neri and Riccardo Neri, Skytear Games, 2024) 09:32 -Myt...
Jul 09, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast One of the under-appreciated virtues of an auction game is that each session can provide its own economy. While daunting to new players, who don't know what things might be worth, their flailing speculation actually helps determine what things are worth. If they buy that share of red for a squillion moneys, guess what, that is what that market would bear. At least for now, that is. Some jerk might then get the next share for two cents and a smile, but watching those economies develop differe...
Jul 02, 2024•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast While we pride ourselves on our internationalist focus here at SVWAG, we have been remiss in our multilingualism lately. While we reliably rendezvous with French on a semi-regular basis, a skosh of Japanese here and there, a quantum of Latin periodically, and whatever language AYURIS pretends to be, our Spanish could use some work. We thus devote ourselves to utter three whole words of Spanish in this episode. 01:30 AYURIS: Dwellings of Eldervale (Luke Laurie, Breaking Games, 2020) Games Played ...
Jun 25, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
