Andy reports on his recently-ended Kickstarter campaign, and Keith drops hints about his secret game-in-progress, Project Ex. They also discuss travel plans, then they yammer about media. Topics include a spoiler-heavy discussion of the first season of Fargo, and Rod Serling’s not-very-good followup to the Twilight Zone, called Night Gallery. Lastly, Keith talks about a light-hearted LARP game he once ran, set in a Denny’s in the middle of the night.
SPOILER WARNING: This episode has spoilers.
Andy talks about the final days of the Pyramid Arcade Kickstarter, and Keith talks about his progress on Project X. Then Keith talks about his recent trip to Maine, where his visited the current members of a college group he founded 20 years ago, called the Bates Discordians. Keith mentions his “interesting thing” trick for remembering someone’s name, and also talks about the growth stages of lobsters. Then Andy talks about his trip to PAX East, where he did his Improv Fluxx Design panel, in which he created a design for Muppet Fluxx live before a large audience, complete with on-the-spot illustrations drawn by noted Fluxx illustrator, Derek Ring. Then Keith tells Andy a few things about Game of Thrones and Dexter, neither of which Andy has seen or read.
Andy & Keith check in with each other on work stuff, but then spend most of the time talking about media, in particular a long, spoiler-heavy discussion of 11.22.63, plus other time travel shows including Legends of Tomorrow and the last episode of the first season of Man Seeking Woman. Also, since the trailer for the next Star Wars movie just hit the net, they end up yammering about that for quite awhile. Lastly, Keith talks about his recent appearance on the Gosh Darn Fiasco podcast.
SPOILER WARNING: This episode contains spoilers!
Andy & Keith start by discussing the status of their Kickstarter projects: Pyramid Arcade by Andy and Phoenix by Keith. But mostly they discuss media, in particular time travel shows and superhero shows. But they don’t discuss 11.22.63 much because Andy is lame and hasn’t seen the ending yet. And neither of them have seen new Batman/Superman movie, but that doesn’t stop them from discussing it. Andy mentions his all-time favorite books, the Tripod series by John Christopher, and his recommended reading order. Keith talks about being mistaken for fantasy author Brandon Sanderson. Andy discusses the pyramid videos being uploaded daily in support of the Kickstarter.
This week, Andy & Keith celebrate their 50th show by sharing the microphone with Goodloe Byron, the cartoonist who doodles up those charming and hilarious illustrations that are posted with each week’s new episode. They talk about how the cartoons happen every week, then they geek out on a huge range of subjects, including the Prisoner, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, the Sarah Connor Chronicles, American Horror Story, Last Resort, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, and of course, Star Wars.
Andy talks about his recent trip to Vegas for the GAMA Trade Show, and other topics include the enormous power of expectations, ideas for future editions of Chrononauts, and the fun of pretending to be a time traveler. Keith & Andy also spend a lot of time discussing media, including the movies Hail Caesar and The Intern, and the shows 11.22.63, Outlander, and The Americans.
Spoiler Alert: Beware of the spoilers!
First, Andy & Keith talk about how Kickstarter has re-shaped the world of independent game publishing, how much harder it is to implement ideas than it is to come up with them, and how novice inventors are prone to the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Then they spend a lot of time reminiscing about the early days of Icehouse, including Andy’s creation of the very first set of pyramids using lead fishing weights. But the biggest topic is that Keith finally tells the story of how he and his fellow Bates Discordians took over the Fourth International Icehouse Tournament back in 1992.
Keith talks at length about Project B, which he’s now calling Project 12, and Andy talks his recent redesign of Lunar Invaders, one of the games in Pyramid Arcade. They also talk about the fun of having a snappy response to the common question, “What’s your deal?” Regarding media, they talk about the first couple of episodes of 11.22.63 which is a wee-bit spoilery, despite their attempts to discuss it without revealing too much.
Spoiler Warning: Spoilers inside.
Andy & Keith just got back from JoCo Cruise 6 so that’s the big topic this week, including Keith’s story of almost being left behind on St. Maarten. They both did a lot of playtesting on the boat: Andy was showing off all the games in Pyramid Arcade, and Keith was testing out his secret “Project B” game. Other topics include one of the shows Keith most enjoyed, Imogen Heap’s performance, Andy talks about visiting the Kennedy Space Center with other “sea monkeys” when the cruise ended, and they both share stories about hanging out with geeky celebs including other game designers, in particular James Ernest and Mike Selinker. Non-cruise topics include Keith’s next version of Gloom, the differences between their roles as a Free-lance designer vs. being on staff, and Andy’s experiences with wearing a giant mascot costume of an Uglydoll character at Toy Fair.
Andy & Keith talk about the titular “Fair Enough” contest, the upcoming JoCo cruise, and plans for the first ever Looney Labs fan convention, in July. But mostly they talk about TV shows, including Jessica Jones, the new X Files, and Legends of Tomorrow. They also discuss the X-Men movie, Days of Future Past, and how the ability to create impossible technology is basically just another super-power.