Episode 121 – You Can’t Slap Jesus on It

Most of your hosts were sick as a dog when this was recorded, but we still had a fun time getting together around the mics. In this episode we talk about games like Animal Upon Animal, PIG, and Tragedy Looper.

As far as our theological topic of the episode – well, I could tell you about it, but I’ll give you this out-of-context quote and let you experience it for yourself:

“You can’t just slap Jesus on this and hope that it’ll be effective, because it won’t be. If it’s coming from a place of authenticity and truth, and ‘This is what’s REALLY going on in my life’ – then that makes a huge difference. It’s the difference between a Queen’s Gambit and Ewoks Save the Trees.”

On a side note: I mention about potentially having Future Mike stop in to give an update about the Phoenixville Game day. After waking up early, spending 4 hours on the road split at the front and back of a 7 hour game day — every Mike in the multiverse is tired as I post this. The short version is that it was a very successful event and the church is planning more game days to come. I’ll talk about it in the next episode.

Episode 120 – A Triumphant Return to the Wide World

As the title of this episode suggests, this episode Mike has stepped back to the mics after his journeys through the lands of Administration. He kicks off with stories of bear related games (Nyet! and Samurai Spirit) before the rest of the guys get going, as well as an update about the state of the Tavern Con 2016 prize pool with donations from Chara Games, Funhill Games, Tasty Minstrel Games, and more.

We also talk about the concept of the moral will of God and the global will of God – the understanding of doing right and being good in our own little box in our own little way versus the desire to step into the wide world and make connections with people from all walks of life.

Episode 119 – Gazing into 2016

In the final episode before Mike gets back to work on the mics, Jeff and Daniel are back to discuss the games announced for 2016 that they are most excited abut, D&D’s new model, and the ability that games have to teach us about one another.

Bonus Content – That Dragon, Cancer

drag66Folks — I don’t know what to say. I played That Dragon, Cancer , got done about 20 minutes ago, and about 3 minutes after it was done, I recorded a thing.

The short version: this game is amazing
Slightly longer: If you’ve ever lost somebody to cancer, if you have any appreciation for immersive storytelling that makes you feel the pain and joy of another person, or if you just want to have a good cry that doesn’t let go of you for a while until you’ve felt the sort of beautiful sadness that lets you feel like  a better person after its gone … you need to try this game.

You can get it on Steam or directly from the developers

Episode 117 – A New Hope: a resolution special

We’re taking one from the playbook of the guys at Gamerstable to start the new year. We’re going to talk about resolutions we have for the upcoming year when it comes to games. We also talk about games slated to come out in 2016 that we are looking forward to.

Oh, and we might bring up a certain movie that may involve some stars and a war.

Episode 116 – 2015’s End of The Year Awards Special

It’s that time of year again. The time where every podcast, blog, and youtuber across the internet takes to their feed with a list of what they think are the best – or at least their favorite – things of the year. Well, GSP is not one to be left out in the cold – so we present to you our end of the year special. We’ve added a couple options this year as Jeff and some of the Regulars suggested new categories. So here are our selections:

Best Game Played (does not have to be new this year)
Jeff – Dead of Winter
Mike – Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn

Best Game added to the collection (does not have to be new this year)
Jeff – Sushi Go
Mike – Castles of Burgundy

Favorite Game Publisher:
Jeff – Plaid Hat Games
Mike – Cool Mini or Not

Favorite Franchise Game:
Jeff – Thunderbirds
Mike – Star Wars Armada

Hidden Gem:
Jeff – Shakespeare
Mike – The Grizzled

Favorite Game Resource
Jeff – Raging Swan
Mike – The Ninth World Guidebook

Favorite Game industry/game Media personality
Jeff – Creighton Broadhurst
Mike – Sam Healey & Dan King

Favorite Video Game
Jeff – Undertale
Mike – Blood Bowl 2

Favorite Game of the Year
Jeff – Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn
Mike – Blood Rage

You can also check out some other stuff we’ve got going on going into the new year!
Stars Without Numbers preview
Hypofefical Trees teespring campaign 
Donate to InnRoads to help us going into the new year

Episode 115 – Empathy Codified

We start up the episode talking about Jeff’s experience with the Mouse Guard RPG, followed by me talking about introducing my wife to the interplanetary deck builder that is Eminent Domain. However, the bulk of this episode is us talking about the effect of playing Ludicreations’ 2 player game called “…And Then We Held Hands.”

ATWHHThis is a game that forces you not only to consider the game’s goal, but the place of the other player at all times as you are pursuing it. It is a game played in silence that has the potential to say more about healthy communication than anything else I’ve seen that tries to. This game is available in a free print and play form over on Board Game Geek if you want to try it out. If you do, and you take the time to think through what is happening as you move pieces around the rings, I’m pretty confident you’ll pick up the produced version of the board game.

Also, remember that we have now unveiled our Board Game Geek Guild for the InnRoads Ministries community. Feel free to join up over there for a place to talk about GSP, the MacGuffin Factory, our InnRoads Plays videos, and everything else that we’ve been working on.

One Game for All thumbIf you would like to support the ministry and help us grow into the new year, we appreciate anything you can give. Even a donation as small as $5 a month can make a huge impact on what we are able to do.

Bonus Content – A Game for Good Christians

GFGC coverFor our American listeners – HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Whether you are listening here or from another country – I had a chance to sit down with the guys that designed A Game For Good Christians – a Cards Against Humanity style game with the purpose not just to be terrible people, but to interact with the harder passages of the Bible and wrestle with their place in the greater narrative of Scripture.

Fair warning – there are a couple of times where strong language is used. Because I know that our listeners include families and younger kids – I’ve bleeped them out. The “theology of swearing” that the guys use is actually a big discussion point, so definitely feel free to interact with that, and with them. They shared that they love getting feedback and respond quickly. They’d love to hear from you.

Episode 114 – Two Years of InnRoads

Neither Jeff nor I had a lot of time to bust out new gaming experiences when we recorded this episode – but seeing as our dry-spell happened in conjunction with the 2 year anniversary of InnRoadsMinistries.com going live, we thought we’d talk about that.

We spend some time talking about what we’ve seen over the past 2 years, how we’ve grown, and what we hope to see in the near future.

One Game for All thumbI also come back at the end to talk about our two year anniversary contest both in honor of that momentous occasion and the creation of our Board Game Geek guild. Followed closely by a discussion about our end of year campaign to support InnRoads into the next year. I’d type more about that here, but you can listen to the end of this episode or watch the video on our youtube channel describing it.