The Mechanics of Failure (XCOM2)
Let’s get this out of the way – XCOM2 – a turn based tactical combat / strategy game – is an extraordinarily well crafted game, and is right now the […]
Victory Pointers 011 – Game Industry Conventions
Kim and Sye have been busy attending some game industry conventions, GAMA in Las Vegas and the Australian Toy Hobby and Licensing Fair in Melbourne, so we catch up with […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 119 – Have A Little Faith
In this episode: We chat about the representation of faith in games and other media, which is code for “Evan gives a lecture on the representation of faith in Mother […]
Victory Pointers 010 – Kickstarting Publishing with Allen Chang and Alistair Kearney
We are joined by Allen Chang and Alistair Kearney from Rule & Make to discuss collaborating on designs, focusing on the core of games, Kickstarting a publishing company, communicating with […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 118 – Things That Come In Threes
In this episode: We celebrate our 3rd anniversary by chatting about our favourite trilogies and other things that come in threes. We also take some time to answer some listener […]
Review: Pharaoh Rebirth+ (PC)
Thanks to Degica Games and their efforts to bring a growing catalogue of Japanese indie and arcade classics (Mushihimesama, RPG Maker, Crimzon Clover, Muv-Luv, and many more) to Steam, we […]
Victory Pointers 009 – Design Philosophies and Collaboration with Matt Dunstan
We are joined by Matt Dunstan to discuss finding a community, collaborating on designs, how we come up with game ideas, working with publishers, and recognizing different philosophies of game […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 117 – Out of Town at GX Australia
In this episode: We take a trip out to Sydney for GX Australia (and some tasty late night Thai desserts at Chat Thai), Australia’s first queer gaming convention. Features chats […]
GEEKY SHIT: Transistor Figure, and Val & Beholder Vinyl with Mimic
Some of my favourite recent pieces have been developed by Bigshot Toyworks, including Monkey with a Gun, and The Four Horsies of the ‘Pocalypse (review to come). Here I’ll be looking […]
GEEKY SHIT: Adventure Time Puff Jake N Lil Finn and Lady Rainicorn Med Figures by Kidrobot
As some of you may be aware, I consider Adventure Time to be one of the most important shows of our generation. The way it plays with fantasy tropes using […]
GEEKY SHIT: Doronjo (and Oda-sama) 1/7 scale figure by Amakuni
You might recognise Miss Leopard (alias: Doronjo) from my previous figure review, which took a look at PLUM’s release, and as such I’ll keep the exposition short. She’s the protagonist […]
GEEKY SHIT: The First Hellboy, Statue by Mondo
A couple of years before Mike Mignola would begin publishing stories featuring his iconic half-demon supernatural detective, there was a sketch of a character with the same name in the […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 116 – The Wars in Our Stars
In this episode: We finally get around to chatting about Star Wars Episode VII at length, since Evan was the last holdout who had not seen it. We talk about […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 115 – Coming Up 2016
In this episode: We are joined by officially new host (AKA replacement Adam) Jackson to chat about what we are looking forward to in 2016. We talk about the movies, […]
Victory Pointers 008 – CanCon, Looking Back at 2015 and Ahead to 2016
We are at yet another board game convention, recording at CanCon 2016. We take some time to take stock of what we’ve achieved in our game design journeys in 2015 […]
Victory Pointers 007 – Seeking Excellence with Jamey Stegmaier
We are joined by Jamey Stegmaier to discuss seeking excellence in board game design. We discuss setting expectations, blind playtesting, how our views on excellence have changed, and figuring out […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 114 – Our Favourites of 2015
In this episode: Adam is back! Who knew scheduling a podcast for Australian and American timezones would be so tricky??? In this episode we look back at the year 2015 […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 113 – The Incredibly Late Christmas Episode
In this episode: This episode was recorded all the way back in mid-December, but since I was busy holidaying back home in Malaysia and then eating way too much over […]
Victory Pointers 006 – Designing Board Games in Malaysia at KotakCon Mini
One of the things we want to do on this podcast is examine what it’s like to make games outside the European and American hotbeds of the industry. I was […]
Victory Pointers 005 – MeepleCon 2015
One last convention related podcast to end the year. Sye and I checked out what was on at MeepleCon, and chatted with Mathew Utting (organizer of MeepleCon) and fellow game […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 112 – Mastering Nothing with Sharona
In this episode: Sharona (of Popculture-y) joins us to chat about the Netflix original series, Master of None, representation and food. We also chat about what we’ve been up to […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 111 – Hobby Enablers
In this episode: We gather around the sharing tree to share how we indulge our consumerist popular media interests via online tools i.e. we chat about what we use online […]
Victory Pointers 004 – Convention Pointers from PAX Aus 2015
We close out the month with the last of our PAX-related podcast episodes. Join us as we share our experiences at the convention and also share tips on how to […]
Dial H: A Graphic Novel Review.
I’ve long been a fan of China Miéville’s work. Not that it’s always easy to read, mind you. Long, convoluted plot lines, outlined in jagged paragraphs, with incredible characters in […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 110b – PAXtraordinary Convention Food Wrap Up
In this episode: We’re joined by Ken Lee of the Hyper Pixelcast for a wrap-up of PAX Australia and what games and experiences delighted us at the convention. We also […]
Victory Pointers Episode 003 – Indie Board Game Designers at PAX Australia 2015
Aaron interviewed some indie board game designers, publishers and artists while he was at PAX Australia 2015. Listen on to find out what’s going on here in Australia. Episode link […]
The Mother Series: Non-Human Characters and Humanity
The Mother series of JRPGs offers incredible depths of thematic discussion thanks to its enormous cast of characters, and tens of hours of gameplay. I intend to slowly pick away […]
GEEKY SHIT: (NSFW) Matoi Ryūko (Senketsu Kisaragi ver.) and Kiryūin Satsuki (Senketsu ver.) figures by Good Smile Company
Good Smile Company has given us two of the most impressive figures available from the Kill la Kill series in the form of Ryūko in her ultimate Senketsu Kisaragi uniform, […]
Session Report: Incubator Meetup – October 2015
This last Incubator event was our second ever daytime one, and though we has slightly less people attending than the first one, we still saw a whole bunch of different […]
GEEKY SHIT: “Discord Flutter On” resin figure
After production troubles, an extended waiting period, and offers of refunds, WeLoveFine has finally brought us the adorable “Discord Flutter On” statue based on original artwork by Samantha Bragg. For […]
Victory Pointers Episode 002 – Growing Local Board Game Design Communities
This was a panel that Aaron organized at PAX Australia 2015, titled “Growing Local Board Game Design Communities”. Here’s the panel description: “No designer is an island. You’ll need people […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 110a – PAXceptional Indie Video Games
In this episode: We were just at PAX Australia this weekend and spent some time chatting with some indie video game developers about the games that they were showing at […]
Review: Cibele (PC)
Cibele is a personal exploration of online romance, told through blog posts, chat logs, short film clips, and private conversations. In that spirit, here’s my review:Thanks for obliging me, Ruth. […]
GEEKY SHIT: Mother (EarthBound) series figures by Banpresto
My house is something of a shrine to the Mother series of videogames. I have fan art, figures, plushies and various official and unofficial publications all dedicated to this disarmingly […]
Victory Pointers Episode 001 – Designing Board Games in Australia
Welcome to the first ever episode of the Victory Pointers podcast! In our inaugural show, we talk about what it’s like to be designing board games in Australia. The panel […]
GEEKY SHIT: Jumbo ver. Hatsune Miku Nendoroid, Good Smile Kuji “Hatsune Miku 2012 Winter Ver.”
If you haven’t heard of Hatsune Miku (Miku-chan, Miku, or CV01), then you probably don’t go to enough geek conventions. She’s a “Vocaloid” – an avatar from a music synth […]
GEEKY SHIT: ArtFX Hellboy (ヘルボーイ) Soft Vinyl Figure by Kotobukiya
You might have noticed I’m a bit of a Hellboy fan. My collection of Hellboy/Mignolaverse figures is fairly comprehensive, but within this collection, Kotobukiya’s soft vinyl Hellboy stands out for […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 109 – Rhythm Games are Hard
In this episode: This is an odd one. There’s a lot of puerile talk and sniggering, but hopefully we can make it through together. We talk about hard, pounding beats […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 108 – Box Farts and PAX Tabletop with Melissa Rogerson
In this episode: We are joined by Melissa Rogerson of PAX Aus Tabletop and Boardgames Australia to chat about running one of the biggest tabletop events of the year and […]
GEEKY SHIT: Shikinami Asuka Langley by Amakuni
The third movie in the Evangelion re-re-(re-)boot, Neon Genesis Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo, might be the least popular film in the latest incarnation, but it has given us […]
GEEKY SHIT: Journey Statue
Journey was a new kind of “Game of the Year” for 2012. Media outlets were giving awards to a game that wasn’t filled with violence and gruff, white men. thatgamecompany […]
GEEKY SHIT: Doronjo (and Oda-sama) 1/7 scale figure by PLUM
Yatterman Night (Yoru no Yatterman) is a wonderful new story in the Yatterman universe by Tatsunoko Productions. In the same style as the recent (and excellent) Gatchaman Crowds, Yatterman Night […]
GEEKY SHIT: Monkey with a Gun sculpture by Mike Mignola, Bronze edition by Bigshot Toyworks
Mike Mignola’s faith and folklore inspired Hellboy universe has been populated by a diverse cast of creatures, and Mignola’s iconic sketch of a monkey holding a gun captures the fun […]
GEEKY SHIT: Kusanagi Motoko, Hdge No.6 EX, Optical Camouflage ver. by Union Creative
As someone with an anime figure collection that has been cultivated to a specific taste, I occasionally find myself conflicted when a character I like gets a figure release that […]
GEEKY SHIT: Chief Beifong Pre-Painted PVC Kit (Convention Exclusive Edition) by Zwyer Industries
The Legend of Korra was a revelation in Western cartoons. After the intricate and beloved Avatar: The Last Airbender introduced us to the world of martial arts inspired elemental manipulation, […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 107 – Aussie Indies and Rolling Babies with Chris, Jason, Nicole, and Sanatana
In this episode: It’s a long episode as we attempt the inadvisable and have 7 people on an episode. We chat with Aussie indie game developers Chris Johnson (Expand), Jason […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 106 – Getting Excited for Nerd Christmas
In this episode: Jackson joins us in this episode to talk about what we’ve been playing and watching lately and we discuss new releases we are excited about in the […]
Aaron’s Games Played Digest – September 2015
Here we go for September. I was in Sydney for the month, so I didn’t get to go to my regular groups but it was really nice to visit other […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 105 – They See Me Ragnarolling Through the Norse Apocalypse
In this episode: We’re joined again by Jason Kotzur-Yang to chat about his latest Kickstarter project, Ragnaroll. We talk about thematic integration and learning about your own design sensibilities. In […]
Session Report: Incubator Meetup – September 2015
Initially, I wasn’t going to make it to September’s meetup as I would be/am still away in Sydney. Justin had other commitments as well, but Stefan was going to be […]
Action Points! 