This week the nerds talk about the use of dice, or lack thereof, in role-playing games. Keith just got back from AmberCon with many tales of the games he played and ran there, and they discuss various RPG systems and how they use — or eschew — the roll of the dice. Media discussions include Homecoming, Babylon 5, and First Man.
This week the nerds talk about plans. They discuss various media that purported to have a plan, but didn’t (like Battlestar Galactica and Lost), and media that really should have had a plan but never did (like the new Star Wars movies). They discuss the differences between stories that are meant to go on forever vs. those that are complete and self-contained. Andy talks gives his reactions to some first season episodes of Babylon 5, which he is finally watching. He also shares a few thoughts about the new Doctor Who and reports on his recent trip to Costa Rica. Then they discuss the issue of human ashes being dumped at the Haunted Mansion. Lastly, they discuss Manifest and The Good Place (with a few little spoilers).
SPOILER WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS
This week the nerds take on the topic of monsters! What makes a monster, anyway? They break down the various categories and discuss their favorites, ranging from classic monster movie monsters, alien monsters, fantasy monsters, furry monsters, and others. Other topics include early McDonaldland commercials, the Island of Dr. Moreau, Salyut-7, monster cereals, laugh tracks, The Good Place, The Goldbergs, and Andy’s wall of video screens.
This week the nerds take on the topic of time, and stories about characters who can stop time, slow time down, or, of course, travel through time. Specific subjects include Doctor Who, Hiro from Heroes, the Flash, Quicksilver from the X-men, Voyagers, the First Men in the Moon, Manifest, Seven Days, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Man in the High Castle, Fringe, Sliders, and others. At the end they lower the spoiler curtain to discuss the most recent episodes of The Good Place and Manifest.
SPOILER WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS
This week the nerds take on the topic of pizza. They have much to say on the subject. It starts with the debate about pineapple on a pizza, they discuss other toppings (and the endless negotiations a group must go through to ordering one), and how some toppings are more “pick-off-able” than others. Then they move on to their childhood favorite pizzas, their go-to choices for ordering a pizza now, garlic, types of bacon, pizzas of different cities, different ways of cooking pizza, how they each cook a pizza at home, and their favorite national pizza chain. Then they move onto popular media depictions of pizza, the adult adventures of pizza delivery guys, all the references to pizza that Andy has included in his games, and the joy of calzones. Finally moving on from pizza, Andy gives his impressions of the first 10 episodes of Babylon 5, which he’s has finally started watching after all these years. Lastly, after lowering the spoiler curtain, they discuss the first episodes of The Good Place and Manifest.
SPOILER WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS
This week the nerds spend a lot of time talking about sequels, reboots, and continuing adventures. Keith talks about Oceans 8, which leads to a big discussion about Deux ex machine, crabgrass, red herrings, Chehov’s gun, Hitchcock’s bomb, plot twists, and subverting viewer expectations. Moving on to game design, they discuss how newer versions of rules for games are more like updated versions of software than sequels, and the challenge of adding new features while also wanting to simplify and optimize game mechanics. Regarding media, Andy talks a little about the first episode of Manifest, then they bring down the spoiler curtain to discuss the final season of The Americans at length.
SPOILER WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS
This week the nerds follow up on last week’s discussion of robots with a lengthy discussion about Dragons. Why do they sleep on hordes of gold, anyway? Why are some really smart, and others unable to even speak? And why isn’t there a dragon in Fairy Tale Fluxx? Moving on from dragons, Keith talks about taxes and Action Pups! and Andy talks about getting a root canal. Then Andy explains his plan to get rid of his van and go buy a used truck instead. They talk a little about upcoming media, then Andy talks about the concept album by Jonathan Coulton called Solid State.
This week’s show is all about robots. First, Keith compares Inhuman Conditions (now on Kickstarter) with Andy’s new game-design-in-progress, Are You a Robot?. Then they discuss their favorite robots, and they debate what a robot even is, as opposed to life-like androids, smart vehicles, AIs, and cyborgs.
Andy just got back from Burning Man so he spends a lot of this episode talking about his experiences there this year. He ran a lot of games at his camp, which hosts a game convention called RaiderCon, and had a great breakthrough while playtesting his new game, Are You a Robot?. Meanwhile, Keith just returned from DragonCon and interjects with stories from his weekend, where he played a lot of great games of Illimat and learned about Druid Law from Ken Hite. Andy describes a couple of the most intense Burning Man art projects he experienced, including a crazy stack of seven junked cars and a recreation of the Great Train Wreck. Other topics they discuss along the way include the works of Doug Michels, the future of Star Trek, Ed Harris in westerns and some spoilery theories about the next Avengers movie.
SPOILER WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS
First Keith talks about being in Ithaca again to help his mother, and Andy talks about the recent passing of his father. Then Andy talks about his plans for Burning Man, which leads to a discussion of robots. Andy reports on his progress with the design of ChronoTrek, and Keith talks about Action Pups! They discuss some media, including Humans, Making It, and Nailed It. Andy talks about Jenny Nicholson’s ideas for naming horses, the Renwick Gallery’s Burning Man exhibit, and gives more thoughtful answers to the favorite and least favorite aliens.
SPOILER WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS