Punching Cardboard

We're smoking peat, greasing wheels, shooting sparks, and slapping applesauce in episode 63. We begin slowly and end with a beginning, all out-takes included. The whisky's a little smoky and the language a little salty, but we get our kicks in this one. All that and some serious examination of a couple of heavyweight games. Please enjoy responsibly.

SPELLS:

02:00 -- Peat Monster!
10:30 -- Hand. Cannot. Erase. (Steven Wilson)
17:25 -- Bono Feld
19:05 -- Kanban (revisited in full)
51:15 -- Oh So Heavy???
58:00 -- A Baseball Highlights Afternoon Special.
61:30 -- Argent: The Consortium (pre-review. to be revisited)
104:50 -- To Begin at the Beginning (Schedules, Gamestorm, Brian DePalma, Minecraft, Requests, Pics, and etc).

Direct download: PCP_063_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:27am PDT

Welcome to the quiet little village of Episode 62. Here, at the local pub you can enjoy a fine dram of single malt whisky, prepared with loving care by the town vicar, whilst listening to the locals spin tales of their mining exploits on Mars. What more could you ask for?

DRILLING SCHEDULE:

01:15 -- Cthulhu Approved Whisky: HP, Dark Origins
09:50 -- Old Fun February: Fail
23:02 -- Evil Tower of Cubes
31:12 -- Super Motherload (review)
58:55 -- Gamestorm Plans?????

Direct download: PCP_062_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:49pm PDT

You want a game you can bring home to your spouse and play on a cold snowy evening, just the two of you, a nice fire going, a little wine. When things go good, shall we say.

But you also want that game to shine when you have company, when you slap it on the table, when you show your friends just who's daddy you are. Yep, you want a game that covers the range of players indicated on it's enticing linen box, a game that does more than sit on your shelf, taunting you over the money you spent, knowing that . . . um . . . um, yeah.

Well, we discuss scalability and let you know about 19 games that fit the bill. Listen forth.?

TIPPING THE SCALES

02:47 -- Ardbeg Again
05:30 -- Music Reviews (Cracker and Blue Rodeo)
13:40 -- Playing New Games in Old Fun February -- Super Motherload
17:40 -- Railroads and Peppers
20:25 -- ZhanGuo
24:30 -- Eric Won't Play Dungeon Petz!
27:50 -- Scales Defined
30:00 -- Up the Scale
46:48 -- Down the Scale
60:45 -- Working Across the Player Count (Games listed in the Tags)

Direct download: PCP_061_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:26am PDT

You asked for it, and you got it. We take a deep look at Deus in this episode, a game that has divided our opinions like no other before it and quite possibly none that will come after. And then we go deeper, exploring the depths of Stefan Feld's oceanic research labs in Aquasphere, because we all live in some sort of colorful submarine. With robots. And Crystals. And a laser barrier between us and our point salad.

TIMES:

06:45 Deus (review)
42:25 Aquasphere (review / impressions)

Direct download: PCP_060_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 12:42am PDT

Welcome to this week's episode of Punching Health Care. We get all medical in this bad boy, finding cures for what ails you with Bad Medicine and saving the world (not) in Pandemic: the Cure. We also toss in some musical cures for KatyPerryItis that will have Kanye West's head spinning (there's probably a cure for that too). It's all about theme, baby!

APPOINTMENTS:

06:50 -- Bad Medicine (preview)
37:08 -- January's Music Selections
41:45 -- Pandemic: The Cure (review)
58:00 -- Co-ops and Difficulty

Direct download: PCP_059_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 10:42am PDT

Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in two weeks but Baseball Highlights: 2045 reported to Punching Cardboard yesterday, so we're getting a jump on the action. We've got cyborgs, we've got robots, we've got naturals, and we've got a card game with a fairly unique take on the sport of baseball that should allow access for anyone with even a passing interest.

We also discuss (ahem!) the avalanche of games either hitting the table or pending, and whether this is a good thing or not (Eric: Yes! - Jim: NO!). All this and a short preview of 1714: The Case of the Catalans lie ahead. Tread carefully (except with the Baseball part because that is a gentile, pastoral sport).

INNINGS:

00:42 -- Powers, John's Lane Release
05:18 -- They Were Just There Not to Get Fined
14:49 -- Too Many Games (Argue: Fight)!
31:09 -- New Dice For Quantum
33:45 -- Game Weight. 1714: The Case of the Catalans (preview)
39:16 -- Baseball Highlights: 2045 (review)
75:42 -- The Two Stories of Kickstarter

Direct download: PCP_058_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 3:45pm PDT

We spend a lovely day out on the farm, wandering the fields and picking packs of yellow, red, blue, green orange, black, white, brown, some clear glittery, and (I won't alliterate anymore) peppers. We're in Scoville, USA and we're making chili.

We also talk the best music from 2014, our Kickstarter habits, game addiction, and upcoming cons. Uh-oh, Eric's eyes are watering. He must have forgotten to wash his hands after handling his peppers.

TIMING:

06:18 -- Big Box Mania
07:35 -- Ardbeg: Build Your Collection
08:14 -- Technology Moves Ahead
10:06 -- Top 5 Albums of 2014
20:49 -- Gen Con and Other Possibilities
24:40 -- Eric Does Orleans
26:30 -- Addiction Trumps Virus
29:20 -- All Our Kickstarters
34:46 -- Scoville (review)

Direct download: PCP_057_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 12:56am PDT

Takin' the heavy down a notch or four from last week, we're controlling areas in Londonderry and rollin' bones in space for episode 56. Still, there's plenty of meat in these titles, and plenty of flavor bringing us back for more.

Thank you, sir, may I have another.

TIMELINESS:

02:22 -- GlenDronach, The Original 12 Year-old
05:50 -- Bidness
09:45 -- Playing From The Shelf Challenge
12:53 -- The Punchies!
15:25 -- GameStorm & Other Possible Appearances
19:43 -- The Walled City: Londonderry & Borderlands (review)
53:10 -- Roll for the Galaxy (review)

Direct download: PCP_056_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:13am PDT

Welcome to Episode 55, the Director's cut. Yup, this is a long one. To be fair, We are covering the mammoth known as Arkwright, and we devote well over an hour to this beast alone. We also drink a little Jameson and sew a few quilts just to keep ourselves honest. Might be a rant in there too (just a little one).

TIMER:

02:40 -- Jameson
05:10 -- You mean there's more football!?
08:53 -- Patchwork (review)
20:32 -- Refusing to buy Star Realms expansion
25:20 -- Arkwright (review)

Direct download: PCP_055_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:27pm PDT

Hello and welcome to 2015, Punching Cardboard style! Well, an approximation of our style as we are admittedly a little off our game after this holiday break. I mean, we're hustling all over the place, trying to make the plays, but it's like the balls taking funny hops or something.

Anyway, forgive the extra long rules explanations as we delve into a couple of mid-weight, short-playing games: Akrotiri and Lagoon: Land of Druids.

TIMES:

02:40 -- Redbreast 15 Year-old Irish Pure Pot Still
08:48 -- Game Trayz
18:00 -- Akrotiri (review)
53:00 -- We Will Play Kill Shakespeare and Other Tales
59:35 -- Lagoon: Land of Druids (review)

Direct download: PCP_054_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:45am PDT