Episode 209 – Invite the Children In

Daniel and Mike are back on the air with a new look for Game Store Prophets.

In this episode, they introduce new segments that will help us avoid the pressure to dig into limited gaming ability for topics – as it can sometimes be hard to get to the table as adults, let alone adults with toddlers in the house. They’ll also be talking ABOUT those toddlers as they talk about the concepts of invitation versus expectation when introducing kids to the gaming world and how that looks a lot like introducing them to God. About making it accessible and showing how wonderful you know it to be rather than demanding they already feel the same way you do.

Games mentioned in this episode:
Unmatched: Battle of Legends vol. 1 by Restoration Games
Paperback by Fowers Games
The Mansky Caper by Calliope Games
Dungeon Crawl Classics by Goodman Games
Shadows Over Camelot by Days of Wonder
Return to Dark Tower by Restoration Games (Kickstarter)
Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile by Leder Games ( Kickstarter)
Wonderland’s War by Druid City Games (Kickstarter coming February 2020)

Other mentions:
World Anvil

 

Music by Kevin MacLeod, Creative Commons at www.incompetech.com.

Episode 168 – 2017’s End of Year Awards!

Each year we try to point out some of the games, people, and resources in the gaming world we think are worth looking into – whether they came out this year or they just did something special that grabbed our attention above everything else in the wide world of options. Sadly, as Jeff has had to deal with a lot of family issues this year, his experiences were drastically limited. He’s sitting this one out to spend just that much more time with his family while Daniel and I wax on about games.

If you don’t have the hour and change to listen to the episode when you hit this post and just want to results – here you are. For explanations as to why we made our choices, listen to the episode. Feel free to comment on this post and share your favorites from this year.

BEST GAME PLAYED –
Doesn’t need to be new this year, but a game that gave us the best single play experience in 2017

Mike- Terraforming Mars (Stronghold Games)
Daniel- Castle Ravenloft (Wizards of the Coast)

 

BEST GAME ADDED
Doesn’t need to be new this year, but our favorite game that we added to our game libraries in 2017

Mike- Scythe (Stonemaier Games)
Daniel- Wasteland Express Delivery Service (Pandasaurus Games)

 

FAVORITE GAME PUBLISHER –
Publishers who went above and beyond the call this year with consistently great titles and/or business choices

Mike- Restoration Games (Honorable Mention: Renegade Games)
Daniel- HABA

 

FAVORITE FRANCHISE GAME –
A game that continues on an established franchise and/or best utilizes a popular IP

Mike- Near & Far (Red Raven Games)
Daniel-  ZOMBIES!!!!! 15 – Another One Bites The Dust (Twilight Creations)

 

HIDDEN GEM –
A title the flew under the radar for a while but really impressed us after we found it

Mike- Cat Lady (AEG)
Daniel- Mole Rats in Space (Peaceable Kingdom)

 

FAVORITE GAME RESOURCE –
Something outside of any specific game that made our gaming experience better, more varied, etc.

Mike- Board Game Stats App
Daniel- Bundle of Holding (Honorable Mention: Paint Rack app)

 

FAVORITE GAME INDUSTRY/GAMING MEDIA PERSONALITY –
People making games or gaming content that did something noteworthy this year

Mike- Suzanne Sheldon & Mandi Hutchinson
Daniel- Duncan Rhodes

 

FAVORITE NON-INNROADS PODCAST – 
A podcast not necessarily about gaming, but definitely worth your attention

Mike – Board Game Blitz (Honorable mention – Mission to Zyxx)
Daniel – The Lonesome Pine Podcast

 

FAVORITE VIDEO GAME –
A video game or digital implementation of a board game that came out this year

Mike – Pyre
Daniel – Mysterium

 

GAME OF THE YEAR –
The best of the best

Mike- Spirit Island
Daniel- Photosynthesis

Episode 164 – InnRoads Approved Some More Stuff

In this episode – Daniel takes on his first shot to dive into games past and bring out some gems in the archive dive. He surfaces with two dice-related games (I know, surprise surprise) – Machi Koro, and Luchador, and even throws in a bit of his family history as an added bonus.

We also go about the business of announcing not just one, but two new titles that have received our InnRoads Approved seal – our nod to games with biblical and/or church history related themes that are fun and interesting to play regardless of a person’s faith statement or biblical literacy. It’s harder to find those than you’d think.

We’re proud to announce that Unauthorized from Chara Games and Indulgence from Restoration Games have been added to the list. We haven’t talked to anybody at Restoration Games yet, but you can find an interview with Pat Lysaght from Chara Games from when Unauthorized first hit Kickstarter here.

Episode 160 – The Intern & the Mechanical Gospel

Many of our usual hosts are off dealing with other things at the moment, so I asked our new intern Jonathan Campoverde to come on the podcast to tell our wonderful listeners a little bit about himself.

In this episode, we talk about some of the announcements blowing open the doors of Gen Con (Restoration Games announcing Fireball Island, Plaid Hat announcing Stuffed fables, and – of course – FFG’s announcement of Star Wars: Legion), talk about our wonderful intern and what he hopes to see in this next year with us, and discuss the church’s perception of what constitutes ministry and the way we go about sharing the Gospel.

He’s gonna fit in just fine.