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🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this special episode they discuss three more Japanese card games: Gummi Trick (also known as Sweet Takes) by Hisashi Hayashi, Nokosu Dice by Yusuke Matsumoto and dnup by Kei Kajino. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:06:06 - Intro0:06:25 - Discussion of Gummi Trick0:19:38 - Discussion of Nokosu Dice0:38:57 - Discussion of dnup0:52:09 - Questions for the audience0:52:27 - Garphill History - Raiders of the North Sea ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss Coimbra by Flaminia Brasini and Virginio Gigli. Coimbra is a competitive euro dice drafting game. As the head of one of Coimbra's oldest houses in the Age of Discovery, players seek to earn prestige by deepening relationships with nearby monasteries or funding the expeditions of the era. To reach this goal, players must vie for the favours of the city's most influential citizens, by offering money or protection. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:4:33 - Intro0:4:51 - Overview of Coimbra0:10:28 - Discussion of Coimbra0:53:53 - Questions for audience0:54:09 - Garphill History - Shipwrights of the North Sea ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this special episode they discuss the early years of Garphill Games when Shem was self publishing as a brand new designer. Get ready to do a deep dive on the origin story of Garphill Games! 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:8:32 - Intro0:5:49 - What this episode is about and why we are doing it!0:10:42 - Linwood0:17:37 - Capek0:26:38 - Saqqara0:27:43 - Plethora0:32:19 - Playtesting and Development0:34:07 - Plethora Continued0:37:50 - Tanzania0:43:17 - Cibola0:47:21 - As a new designer, should you try make the best game?0:49:15 - Garphill's identity as a company0:51:36 - Woodlands0:56:48 - Flee the Scene1:02:22 - Overcoming design problems in the early days1:04:23 - Which of these would you play and which would you redesign if force to?1:06:37 - How important is a good premise for a game?1:14:39 - Bethel Woods1:24:55 - Wrapping up ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss Raiders of Scythia: Omens and Skara Brae: Headlands by Shem Phillips. The first ever expansions to Ancient Anthology titles. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:5:33 - Intro0:5:49 - Why are we doing Ancient Anthology expansions?08:37 - Discussion of Omens0:30:22 - What makes a good expansion?0:37:20 - Discussion of Headlands1:00:23 - Questions for the audience1:00:40 - Kickstarter overview ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon by Fabio Lopiano and Nestore Mangone. Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon is a competitive euro worker placement game in which players lead one of the space agencies that are working together to expand a permanent base in the Shackleton crater at the Moon's South Pole, while at the same time working with the three major corporations sponsoring the mission. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:7:52 - Intro0:8:09 - Overview of Shackleton Base0:13:02 - Discussion of Shackleton Base0:55:41 - Questions for audience0:55:58 - Reflections on Play Con (Australia) ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this special episode they discuss three Japanese card games: Disney Villains by Jun Sasaki and Taiki Shinzawa, Nanatoridori by Toshiki Arao, and Robotrick by Domi. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:06:58 - Intro0:07:17 - Discussion of Disney Villains0:21:06 - Discussion of Nanatoridori0:32:11 - Discussion of Robotrick0:46:29 - Questions for the audience0:46:47 - Discussion about designing card games ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this special episode they discuss the nominees for the Kennerspiel Des Jahres 2026: Rebirth by Reiner Knizia, Boss Fighters QR by Michael Palm and Lukas Zach, and Moon Colony Bloodbath by Donald X. Vaccarino. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:07:24 - Intro0:07:42 - Discussion of Rebirth0:33:26 - Discussion of the Kennerspiel0:42:29 - Discussion of Boss Fighters QR0:57:42 - Discussion of Moon Colony Bloodbath1:00:13 - Questions for the audience1:00:29 - Prediction and our winners ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss Eternal Decks by Hiroken. Eternal Decks is a limited communication co-operative game in which players try to complete the stage objectives before any one player cannot take an action. 📜Chapters: 0:00:00 - Which would you prefer? 0:6:45 - Intro 0:7:02 - Overview of Eternal Decks 0:15:41 - Discussion of Eternal Decks 0:47:43 - Questions for audience 0:48:01 - Top 200 Draft: 191-200 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss Men-Nefer by Germán P. Millán. In Men-Nefer you relive one of the greatest periods of ancient Egypt, carrying out tasks typical to Egyptian culture: acquiring knowledge in the houses of life, navigating and trading on the Nile River, making offerings to the revered God, embalming the corpses of the nobles to send them off to a better life, erecting beautiful sphinxes, and contributing to the construction of the Great Pyramids. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:8:05 - Intro0:8:18 - Overview of Men-Nefer0:13:35 - Discussion of Men-Nefer0:58:00 - Questions for audience0:58:17 - Top 200 Draft: 181-190 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss Towers of Sifnos by Shem Phillips and S J Macdonald. In Towers of Sifnos players step into the role of an ancient Greek military commander! Prepare your people against raiding pirates by constructing towers, mustering soldiers, and investing into the future of Sifnos. The game ends immediately once the third allied ship is drawn from the bag and the player with the most victory points wins. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:08:16 - Intro0:08:31 - Overview of Towers of Sifnos0:13:11 - Discussion of Towers of Sifnos0:54:51 - Questions for audience0:55:09 - Top 200 Draft: 171-180 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss The Great Sea by S J Macdonald and Zachary Smith. In The Great Sea players take on the role of Phoenician city states vying for military and commercial control of the Mediterranean Sea. Players must construct and mobilize their ships, fortify their trade routes, and research new technologies for land and sea. Key to their success will be controlling the various ancient temple sites across the map. The game ends immediately once a player's temple marker reaches the same space as either their combat or trade marker. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:07:45 - Intro0:08:01 - Overview of The Great Sea0:11:11 - Discussion of The Great Sea1:00:16 - Questions for audience1:00:33 - Top 200 Draft: 161-170 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss Moon Colony Bloodbath by Donald X. Vaccarino. Moon Colony Bloodbath is an engine-building, engine-losing tableau game, with a shared deck the players build that makes things happen, many of them bad things that kill people in your moon colony, but some positive, and some that let you build up. 📜Chapters: 0:00:00 - Which would you prefer? 0:10:01 - Intro 0:10:18 - Overview of Moon Colony Bloodbath 0:13:51 - Discussion of Moon Colony Bloodbath 0:51:28 - Questions for audience 0:51:46 - Top 200 Draft: 151-160 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they each count down the ten games that made them the gamers and designers they are today, starting with games 5-1. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:05:45 - Intro0:06:03 - Preamble & Criteria0:07:10 - Games 5-10:58:39 - Questions for audience0:58:57 - Top 200 Draft: 141-150 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they each count down the ten games that made them the gamers and designers they are today, starting with games 10-6. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:05:24 - Intro0:05:45 - Preamble & Criteria0:07:24 - Games 10-60:52:15 - Questions for audience0:52:31 - Top 200 Draft: 131-140 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss First Rat by Gabriele Ausiello and Virginio Gigli. In First Rat, players take on the role of rats trying to build a rocket and take over the cheese moon. They do this by moving their rat meeples up the board (junkyard) and collecting junk which they can turn into rocket parts. 📜Chapters: 0:00:00 - Which would you prefer? 0:04:27 - Intro 0:04:43 - Overview of First Rat 0:11:33 - Discussion of First Rat 1:02:53 - Questions for audience 1:03:15 - Top 200 Draft: 121-130 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠