All posts filed under “Project Ex”

June 13, 2017

Episode 106: Detachable Sleeves

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First the guys get kind of heavy and serious, discussing the aging process as it is affecting each of their fathers. They also talk about the process of choosing titles for these shows. Then they talk about work stuff, and fake-work stuff, and they each discuss their plans for seeing the total eclipse of the sun this summer, along with GenCon, Burning Man events Andy attends, and Keith’s Illimat Road Tour. Andy talks for awhile about a cool woman he’s been hanging out with lately, named Sleevs. Keith talks about how awesome the Google Translate app is when on travel in a foreign country, and also describes hearing a performance on a musical instrument called a handpan. This leads to Andy discussing one of his favorite objects, a pocket-sized sound sculpture by Reinhold Marxhausen called Stardust. Media topics discussed this time include The Americans, Twin Peaks, Fargo, True Detective, The White Princess, and the trailer for the new Star Trek series (with its strange new Klingons).

June 6, 2017

Episode 105: Time Spanks Tom Hanks

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First Keith talks about his recent trip to Portugal, where, among other things, he enjoyed seeing the roof cats of Porto. They discuss the mystery of why we have different names for foreign geographic locations than the names used by the people who actually live in those places. Keith mentions a couple of books including Anno Dracula and Last Call. Andy reports on some of the stuff going on at Looney Labs, then talks about TARDIS technology and the time traveler known as The Plumber. They discuss Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 without being very spoilery, along with The Americans, Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans, Rouge One, and the BBC series from the 80’s called The Tripods.

May 16, 2017

Episode 104: Tom Cruise’s Time Cruise

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First Keith talks about getting his computer fixed, and other things he did this weekend. Andy talks about developing two-player rules for his party game Choose One, which works for 3-10 players as published. They discuss a recent top ten list of great games published by Paste Magazine, and they discuss stories about normal people discovering the world isn’t what they thought it was. Media topics include: A Series of Unfortunate Events, Legion, Fargo’s season 3 opener, The Big Lebowski, American Gods, The Americans, Deutschland ’83, Logan, The Goldbergs, and Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans.

May 9, 2017

Episode 103: Keith in a Sportsball Cap

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First the guys get caught up on each other’s lives. Andy talks about his vintage video game Icebreaker and its innovative “Level Grid” interface, and Keith considers his options for getting a 3DO multiplayer again. Keith talks about the start of season 3 of Fargo, and they discuss the challenges of learning Bridge. And any game for that matter. Then they discuss the issues relating to system mastery in RPGs. And any game for that matter. Then they lament the news of pending cancellation of TV shows they’ve been enjoying. Then they discuss “embarrassment humor,” and the conversation turns into a comparison/contrast analysis of The Office and Parks and Rec. Keith also compares & contrasts the American show House Hunters and the British show Escape to the Country.

April 25, 2017

Episode 102: No Cookie for Old Men

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First the guys discuss the merits of various types of chocolate chip cookies. Then they talk about Andy’s book, The Empty City, and the stories within it which inspired Icehouse and the entire Looney Pyramids system. They also discuss Illimat and Tak, new board games which also started as imaginary games. Then they talk about the time travel conundrum of showing a young artist who will become successful examples of the works they will eventually create in the future. Andy talks about the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Keith talks about stories he’s written (and wants to write) for his fantasy role-playing worlds. Andy talks about time traveler characters he’d written into a couple of his earliest game design projects, back in the early 80s, and provides a breakdown of the various machines and methods time travelers use to get around, triggered by the ring used TimeRider in the new series Dimension 404. Other media topics include season 2 of Fargo, and season 1, and the entire Coen brothers filmography. Keith and Andy give their answers to the question of which Coen brothers movie they like best.

April 18, 2017

Episode 101: Ready Player 101

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First the guys talk about cats. Then they talk about playing video games, with Keith rambling on about the Mass Effect series. Then they talk about cats some more. Next, they discuss time travel shows, specifically the just-canceled Time After Time, Making History, and episode 3 of Dimension 404. Next, they talk about cats again. After that, they get into a lengthy, spoiler-filled discussion of the book, Ready Player One, followed by a spoilery discussion of the most recent episode of the Americans. Lastly, they talk about racism in fantasy worlds, with one more mention of cats.

SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers inside.

April 11, 2017

Episode 100: Ducks Don’t Read

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The guys note that this is their 100th show and give their answers to a common question: what are some of your all-time favorite games that you did not design? As part of this discussion, Keith mentions an interesting new poker variant, called Hollywood Squares. Regarding work, Andy talks about Drinking Fluxx, and the new rules that make it both awesome and dangerous, and talks about finally finishing the new edition of Nanofictionary, one change to which will be a new rule for who goes first, which they discuss. When they get to media, they have a long, spoiler-filled discussion about the season 1 finale to Legion. Other topics include the Americans, The Good Place, Rick & Morty, and the 8th episode of the fan series, Star Trek Continues.

SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers inside!

April 6, 2017

Episode 99: Time Travelers Are The new Vampires

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After a short discussion of sci-fi conventions both recent and long ago, Keith and Andy spend most of the episode discussing media. First, Keith points out just how many time travel shows are currently on the air, comparing this time travel overload to the overuse of vampires in recent media. Then they spend a lot of time discussing the new series Time After Time, followed by an in-depth discussion of Legion. Spoilers abound throughout most of this episode!

SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers Inside!

March 29, 2017

Episode 98: Keith & Andy’s Precious Little Podcast

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This week Keith is finally able to reveal the details of his mysterious “Project Ex” game: It’s “Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Card Game,” which will be released later this year from Renegade Games! Keith also talks about marketing plans for Illimat which leads to a discussion of GenCon and summer travel plans in general. Andy talks about the total eclipse of the sun that will be happening on August 17th, and recounts some of the events that just happened at the GAMA Trade Show. Media topics include Continuum, Last Man on Earth, Time After Time, Fargo, Legion, This Is Us, The Americans, and Powerless. They also grouse about how unrealistically Hollywood portrays poker games and sword fights. Lastly, Keith mentions a new podcast he’s going to be appearing on, called Manifest Zone.

March 21, 2017

Episode 97: The 7th Voyage of JoCo

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Keith and Andy are fresh off the boat having had a grand time on the seventh Jonathan Coulton Cruise. Topics include the new improved game room, Andy winning Andy vs Everybody, Keith playtesting his new games (Project Ex and Action Cats), Andy playtesting his newest Fluxx prototype (Space Fluxx), and of course, the onboard entertainment, with particular shout outs to Song Exploder, the What’s Your F***ing Problem panel, and Greg Benson’s Morning Show.