In the vast panoply of human misfortunes, it is often fruitless to try to rank misery. Was historical tragedy X worse or better than atrocity Y? It seems callous to ask. That said, thanks to the applied research of a retired ethicist with the aid of Reiner Knizia's Zoo Vadis, we have conclusively discovered that it is better to be extorted by a marmoset than assaulted by an armadillo. Thus is human knowledge expanded.

01:01 AYURIS: Heroscape (Stephen Baker, Rob Daviau, & Craig Van Ness, Hasbro, 2004)

Games Played Last Week:

05:30 -Uprising: Curse of the Last Emperor (Cornelius Cremin, Pawel Mazur, & Dirk Sommer, Nemesis.Games, 2021)

10:23 -Zoo Vadis (Reiner Knizia, Bitewing Games, 2023)

15:53 -Marabunta (Reiner Knizia, Space Cowboys, 2023)

22:35 -Feed the Kraken (Maikel Cheney, Dr. Hans Joachim Höh, and Tobias Immich, Funtails, 2022)

26:19 -La Granja: Deluxe Master Set (Michael Keller and Andreas "ode." Odendahl, Board&Dice, 2023)

31:30 -Sand (Ariel Di Costanzo and Javier Pelizzari, Devir, 2024)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

38:45 Calico spinoff: Knitting Circle

39:29 Founders of Reyvick: Richard Garfield and GMT

40:54 Boardgaming has jumped the shark: Winston: Nineteen Eighty-Four

42:56 Expeditions: Gears of Corruption

43:14 Radlands gets 1.2 rules and a new deck

44:20 Topic: The One that Broke the Kallax's Back

Before the people of Quebec celebrated the Journée nationale des Patriotes (National Patriots' Day), they instead on the same day had the Fête de Dollard. A cynic might speculate that the timing of these holidays was chosen so as to pre-empt the English Canadian Victoria Day, and that cynic would be right.

Games Played Last Week:

01:21 -Dice Flick (Rami Gaber, Pegasus Spiele, 2021)

04:49 -A Message from the Stars (Clarence Simpson, Allplay, 2024)

11:21 -Switchbacks (Susumu Kawasaki, Allplay, 2022)

14:23 -Mage Knight: The Board Game (Vlaada Chvatil, WizKids, 2011)

18:29 -Leviathan Wilds (Justin Kemppainen, Moon Crab Games, 2024)

19:32 -Priorities (Uncredited, Clarendon Games, 2020)

22:11 -Word Traveler (Thomas Dagenais-Lespérance, Office Dog, 2024)

25:59 -Cascadito (Reiner Knizia, Bitewing Games, 2024)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

28:27 Grail Games will be reprinting Marc André's Barony with its Sorcery expansion

28:53 Indonesia reprint from Splotter with a new board

29:51 Black Forest from Tido Lorenze, Uwe Rosenberg, and Feuerland Spiele

30:04 Another Frostpunk game, this time from Board&Dice

30:28 Walking Dead game from Button Shy

30:39 New expansion for Aquatica, Coral Reefs

30:50 Followup to Oathsworn from Shadowborne and Jamie Jolly: Avalon: The Riven Veil

31:02 Darktide the miniatures game from Games Workshop

31:33 Dungeon Twister 20th Anniversary Edition by Christophe Boelinger and Ludically

32:57 Congratulations to the Golden Geek winners!

34:02 Feature Game: Cascadero (Reiner Knizia, Bitewing Games, 2024)

It is striking that no one submitted a question regarding the hues of our auras, so allow us to address the issue here and declare that amber is the colour of our energy.

I regret nothing.

01:39 AYURIS: Capital Lux 2: Generations (Eilif Svensson & Kristian Amundsen Østby, Aporta Games, 2020)

Games Played Last Week:

03:46 -G.I. JOE Deck-Building Game: Raise the Flagg Campaign Expansion (T.C. Petty III, Renegade Game Studios, 2023)

07:10 -Through the Desert (Reiner Knizia, Allplay, 2024) ARTIST: Damien Mammoliti

11:27 -Leviathan Wilds (Justin Kemppainen, Moon Crab Games, 2024)

14:14 -Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Scrawlers--Heroes of Waterdeep (Vangelis Bagiartakis and Konstantinos Karagiannis, WizKids, 2023)

16:44 -Set a Watch (Mike Gnade and Todd Walsh, Rock Manor Games, 2019)

20:52 -Mysterium Park (Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko, Libellud, 2020)

24:08 -Biohack (Yofiandhy D Indrayana, uchibacoya, 2024)

30:05 -Mage Knight: The Board Game (Vlaada Chvatil, WizKids, 2011)

32:31 -Word Traveler (Thomas Dagenais-Lespérance, Office Dog, 2024)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

36:23 Regicide Legacy on Kickstarter! Can Badgers from Mars triumph again?

38:30 Dune: War for Arrakis expansion/reprint on Gamefound

40:03 Topic: Omnibus Questions Delta Bet

There is only one novel and commendable Kant pun, delivered in the novel and commendable film Hedwig and the Angry Inch:

"I got kicked out of university after delivering a brilliant lecture on the aggressive influence of German philosophy on rock and roll, entitled, 'You, Kant, Always Get What You Want.'"

01:41 AYURIS: Mosaic: A Story of Civilization (Glenn Drover, Forbidden Games, 2022)

Games Played Last Week:

04:11 -Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs (Joe Klipfel and Nikki Valens, Cephalofair Games, 2024)

07:59 -Scrap (Kenny Michael-Otton, Jolly Swagman Games, 2023)

14:52 -Biohack (Yofiandhy D Indrayana, uchibacoya, 2024)

18:42 -Leviathan Wilds (Justin Kemppainen, Moon Crab Games, 2024)

23:44 -Wolves (Connor Alexander, Coyote & Crow LLC, 2024)

33:57 -Dungeon Fighter: Second Edition (Aureliano Buonfino, Lorenzo Silva, and Lorenzo Tucci Sorrentino, Horrible Guild, 2021)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

38:42 Mythic Battles goes to Egypt

40:07 Vote for the Golden Geek and for the Deutsche Spiele Preis (DSP) awards!

40:44 Please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/svwag Coming soon: 3-part series on philosophy

42:07 Topic: Omnibus Questions Delta Aleph

We are storytellers here at SVWAG. This week, we tell the stories of mismatched plagues with dead llamas posing as European dudes, of quixotic strivings for yet more skirmish games, of famous philosophers who hustled cards. Of course, if you wish to hear different stories, the power is yours! You have but to submit your questions for the upcoming Omnibus Questions episode, and all your idle demands shall be satisfied!

Games Played Last Week:

02:33 -Scrap (Kenny Michael-Otton, Jolly Swagman Games, 2023)

09:12 -Root: The Marauder Expansion (Nick Brachmann, Patrick Leder, Cole Wehrle, and Joshua Yearsley, Leder Games, 2022)

14:29 -Cartographers: A Roll Player Game (Jordy Adan, Thunderworks Games, 2019)

16:52 -Lacuna (Mark Gerrits, CMYK, 2023)

19:21 -The Edge: Dawnfall (Michał Oracz, Krzysztof Piskorski, and Marcin Świerkot, Awaken Realms, 2018)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

27:26 dlp's Orléans 10th Anniversary Edition, Walker has grievances

30:47 Star Control II sequel, Free Stars: Children of Infinity, on Kickstarter

31:56 Feature Game: An Age Contrived (Chris Matthew, Bellows Intent, 2024)

No topic is off-limits for the upcoming return of our Omnibus Questions, as we demonstrate in this episode by tackling such issues as pre-Reformation papal indulgences. And if you were to guess which host brought up that little historical nugget, you'd be wrong!

Possible questions: who would win in a street fight, J.G. Fichte or Nietzsche? Do sheep poop? Who is the best member of Team Avatar? (Fichte, yes, and Appa, respectively)

02:17 AYURIS: It's a Wonderful World (Frédéric Guérard, La Boîte de Jeu, 2019) and It's a Wonderful Kingdom (Frédéric Guérard, La Boîte de Jeu, 2021)

Games Played Last Week:

06:23 -Orléans: The Plague (Reiner Stockhausen, dlp games, 2023)

13:59 -Antiquity (Joroen Doumen & Joris Wiersinga, Splotter, 2004)

20:30 -Just One (Ludovic Roudy & Bruno Sautter, Repos Production, 2018)

22:51 -Green Team Wins (Nathan Thornton, 25th Century Games, 2022)

23:47 -Quest (Don Eskridge, Indie Boards & Cards, 2021)

28:38 -Sidereal Confluence (TauCeti Deichmann, Wizkids, 2017)

32:53 -Fast Sloths (Friedemann Friese, 2F-SPiele, 2019)

35:59 -Set a Watch (Mike Gnade and Todd Walsh, Rock Manor Games, 2019)

37:38 -The Big Push: Trench Warfare on the Western Front in World War One (Renaud Verlaque, Hollandspiele, 2017)

42:14 -Robinson Crusoe: Collector's Edition (Joanna Kijanka and Ignacy Trzewiczek, Portal Games, 2024)

45:43 -Wabash Cannonball (John Bohrer, Rio Grande Games, 2023)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

48:28 Adventure Time RPG on crowdfunding

49:27 Business Time! Embracer group spins off Asmodee (with debt), Goliath acquires Lucky Duck Games

51:06 Munchkin Big Box solves our problems

51:43 Topic: Favourite Mechanisms

While we have little experience with Ed Sullivan's TV offerings, his legacy is a fascinating one. While he capitulated to pressure during the Red Scare, he did show remarkable courage in platforming African American performers despite opposition from his sponsors. Quite surprising is that the illness that eventually killed him was kept a secret from him by his family, a practise that was already frowned on in the United States by the seventies but is still widespread in many parts of the world.

Games Played Last Week:

01:36 -The Vale of Eternity (Eric Hong, Mandoo Games, 2023)

04:28 -Voidfall (Nigel Buckle & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2023)

08:42 -Radlands (Daniel Piechnick, Roxley, 2021)

10:11 -Mindbug Battlefruits (Christian Kudahl, Marvin Hegen, Skaff Elias, and Richard Garfield, Nerdlab Games, 2024)

14:36 -ICECOOL Wizards (Brian Gomez, Brain Games, 2024)

19:32 -Ratyl (Andy Gallagher, Busy Dad Games, 2023)

25:46 -Agricola (Revised Edition) (Uwe Rosenberg, Lookout Games, 2016)

29:42 -Almost Innocent (Philippe Attali, Kolossal Games, 2023)

31:18 -E.T. The Extra-Terestrial: Light Years from Home Game (Propsero Hall and Brian Kirk, Funko Games, 2022)

33:55 -Dune: Imperium--Uprising (Paul Dennen, Dire Wolf, 2023)

38:16 -Word Traveler (Thomas Dagenais-Lespérance, Office Dog, 2024)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

41:11 Earth Reborn by Christophe Boelinger possibly to be expanded

44:31 Vladimír Suchý and Delicious Games go to Resafa

45:12 Feature Game: Galactic Renaissance (Christian Martinez, Matagot, 2024)

It is said that both politics and religion are not good conversational fodder among people you don't know well (and perhaps not even for people with whom you are close), but sadly those are among Mark's favourite topics. The sun having been devoured may cause the astronomers to be delighted, but Mark knows a portent when he sees one, and he is confident some kind of sacrifice to appease violent spirits is in order. Walker escalates things by invoking the divine right of kings, the intersection of religion and politics, but then again escalation is Walker's default instinct. Further proof of Fenrir's influence, no doubt!

01:44 AYURIS: Space Station Phoenix (Gabriel J. Cohn, Rio Grande Games, 2022)

Games Played Last Week:

03:54 -Black Rose Wars: Rebirth (Andrea Colletti, Diego Fonseca, and Marco Montanaro, Ludus Magnus Studio, 2024)

11:15 -G.I. JOE Deck-Building Game: Raise the Flagg Campaign Expansion (T.C. Petty III, Renegade Game Studios, 2023)

12:34 -Hissy Fit (Levi Robertson and Chris Stone, Stone Age Distractions, 2023)

16:09 -Almost Innocent (Philippe Attali, Kolossal Games, 2023)

16:47 -Don't L.L.A.M.A. Dice (Reiner Knizia, AMIGO, 2021)

17:15 -Matches (Daniel McKinley, Thing 12 Games, 2024)

19:42 -FORK (Ta-Te Wu, Sunrise Tornade Game Studio, 2023)

22:08 -Voidfall (Nigel Buckle & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2023)

25:13 -Battlecrest: Metronn Base Game (Dustin Dobson & Milan Zivkovic, Button Shy, 2024)

28:55 -Omen: Whispers of the Muse (John Clowdus, Small Box Games, 2024)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

32:11 Divine Right is back on Kickstarter

34:04 Light Speed Arena by Tablescope Games on Kickstarter May 7

36:26 Topic: What Brings You Back?