The Action Points Podcast! Episode 104 – All The Spoilers For All The Endings
In this episode: The whole gang is back together again! We talk about endings that we love and hate, and spoil many endings along the way. In roundup: Adam is […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 103: Authorship Engines Are Go!
In this episode: Aaron is on a little trip to Sydney, so he podcrashes The Game Engine Podcast, and also get Andrew, John and Paul all over our show. While […]
Aaron’s Games Played Digest – August 2015
I’m hoping to do these digests monthly, although this took me way longer to write than July’s since I had a break of 2 weekends without board games in July […]
How to #RuinABoardGame With Excessive Puns: A Pointless Analysis
I enjoy @midnight a lot, although I haven’t been keeping up with it regularly. One thing they do that’s pretty fun to join in is the Hashtag Wars that occur […]
Aaron’s Adventures in New Media: Unboxing on Periscope
I tried out Periscope for the first time this week, and decided to try streaming myself unboxing some brand new game purchases. Since I’m away from home on a work […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 102: Wet Hot Sequels
In this episode: Spurred mainly by our massive enjoyment of Wet Hot American Summer and its sequel Netflix series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, we chat about […]
Session Report: Incubator Meetup – August 2015
I missed out on the bulk of July’s Incubator session as I flew off to Japan on that night, but I was very excited to be back in the swing […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 101: Getting Crafty with Alan and Josh
In this episode: We are joined by Alan Sutcliffe and Josh Sommerfeld, currently Kickstarting Crafted Labs, to talk about 3D printing and making things. Download link below or on iTunes, […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 100: We Can Fix It In Post
In this episode: We get a little self-indulgent as we celebrate episode 100! Also, we try to give away a bunch of games to you but aren’t great at organizing […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 99: Rocket Sports Are Way Better Than Boring Regular Sports
In this episode: We gush about our latest multiplayer game love: Rocket League! We also talk about our experiences with other sports games and sports-like games. In the round up, […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 98: Getting CatTube Famous with Josh and Liam
In this episode: Aaron chats with the creators of CatTube Famous, Josh Harvey and Liam Alkamraikhi about their successfully funded Kickstarter project, game jams, cats, emus, game aesthetics, web addresses, […]
Aaron’s Games Played Digest – July 2015
How was July for board games? Pretty great. I played a bunch of great new games, especially at Mark’s New House Con and managed to play some old favourites as […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 97: Travels and Voyages
In this episode: Aaron just got back from a trip to Japan and Adam was away in the United States of America for a bit, so we talk about our […]
Session Report: Incubator Playtest Day – June 2015
What’s an Incubator Day? Apologies for this horrendously late session report for June’s Incubator event. The June event was actually a bigger affair than usual, as it was held in […]
I’m 33 and still playing competitive games, wondering which will be my last.
I’m a 99.75 percentile player in Blizzard’s latest game, a MOBA called Heroes of the Storm. It’s a fast paced and unforgiving player versus player competitive game, following in the […]
Mother 3 Chapter 3: The Suspicious Peddler
We’re getting into the meaty parts of Mother 3 now, as our discussion arrives at the animal-abuse themed chapter. There’s very little that’s as affecting as a monkey in a […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 96: Comics and Cons with Fred Atkins
In this episode: We chat about a whole bunch of comics and comic-related news as we are joined by Fred Atkins, from our friendly local comic shop and writer of […]
Review: Fort Meow (iOS)
This week we have a guest review! Many thanks to my wife Kat for penning her thoughts and for subjecting herself to a pleasant avalanche of feline cannon fodder. In […]
Embassy Cast Episode 13 – The Voyages of Marco Polo and Spiel 2015
It’s been two and a bit months and we hope you’ve been well. We certainly have been aside from coughing up bits of our lungs over the winter, but you […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 95: Ask Aaron Anything
In this episode: It’s Aaron’s turn in the hot seat as we get him to answer a bunch of questions sourced from our friends and enemies. Also, Aaron reviews The […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 94: Party Games Against Huge Manatees
In this episode: We get together to play a bunch of party games and discuss them. One of the games we cover is Cards Against Humanity, which is a game […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 93: Squidkids Grow Up Into SplatE3ns (FIXED)
In this episode: Guess who’s been playing Splatoon? It’s all of us. But mostly Evan. Evan is a squid now. We just have to accept that fact. A delicious, crunchy, […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 92: Pervasive Playup with Dr. Kate Raynes-Goldie
In this episode: Aaron chats with Dr. Kate Raynes-Goldie about pervasive games, playtesting pervasive and tabletop games, running a playtest event, and games with a socially conscious bent. I had […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 91: Ale and Tall Tales with Dylan Shearer and Aaron Sparke
In this episode: The board game focus continues on the podcast, as Aaron chats with Dylan Shearer and Aaron Sparke of Table Tyrant Games. Their Kickstarter for Tavern Fame will […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 90: Bordercon 2015 Road Trip with Sye Robertson and Brendan Reith
In this episode: Aaron was at Bordercon over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend at the start of June. Joined by travel companions Sye and Brendan, we chat about the games, […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 89: Getting Monstrous with Kim Brebach
In this episode: Aaron chats with Kim Brebach of Secret Base Games, currently Kickstarting the monster-throwing game of Monstrous. We chat about Kickstarter, shipping woes, lowering barriers for Kickstarter backers, […]
Review: Kholat (PC)
I’d never heard of the Dyatlov Pass Incident before playing Kholat. Movies, books, and now video games have drawn from its horrific premise to wonder in horror at what happened to […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 88: Virtual Fighting and BAM 7 with Daniel Chlebowczyk and Perfect Legend
In this episode: Aaron and Evan checked out Battle Arena Melbourne 7 and had a chat with organizer Daniel Chlebowczyk and digital butt-kicker extraordinaire Perfect Legend. The lovely Kat joins […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 87: Incubating with Justin Halliday and Stefan Barton-Ross
In this episode: I chat with my co-admins for the Games Laboratory Incubator group, Justin Halliday and Stefan Barton-Ross. We talk about how we got into board game design, what […]
Embassy Cast Episode 12 – Special Guests Grace & Rui
You may think “But CBE, it looks like you’re just getting your friends who you board game with on your show as guests” but you’d be absolutely 100% correct because that […]
Phantasmal and Monstrum, a rogue-lite survival horror showdown
You know that feeling when you just want to step into a randomly generated set of cold, brutally functional rooms that are littered with otherworldly monstrosities that may or may […]
Session Report: Incubator Meetup – May 2015
Getting Started A few things have changed since the last time I wrote about the first Incubator meetup back in October 2014. I’ve since stepped up my involvement and I’m […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 86: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Matt Dunstan
In this episode: I interview Matt Dunstan, designer of Relic Runners, and co-designer of Empire Engine and (Kennerspiel 2015 nominee!) Elysium. We talk about the different board game design communities […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 85: Ask Dan Anything
In this episode: It’s time for another podcast host interview! This time we quiz Dan about his not-so-secret origins, things that he loves, and his special moves. In our weekly […]
Adventures at Hot Value Mart: Backstroke of the Knock-Off Chinese Toys
I was recently back in Malaysia and Jeannie was kind enough to take me out on a great date, involving that most entertaining of pastimes: marveling at Chinese knock-off toys […]
Embassy Cast Episode 11 – Special Guests Bruce & Jocie
We are all about the most important people in board gaming – the players! Wait, Sony may have something to say about that. But we really do mean it, though. […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 84: DLCs and Expansion
In this episode: This time we talk about DLCs and expansions: what’s wrong, what makes bad DLC, what makes good DLC and our favourite expasions. We also talk about whitewashing […]
Selling a Horse at an Automobile Conference: Talking Australian Board Game Design at Freeplay 2015
If you’re just here for some slides, they’re at the bottom. Hope you find them useful? α Let’s start things off with a crisis of identity: Halfway through […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 83: Long Genre Silver
In this episode: We chat about genres: what we love, exceptions to what we don’t usually like, and what we think we should like but can’t get into. We also […]
Embassy Cast Episode 10 – The Embassy Cast is BACK! Episode 10 – Mental Health, Catchup
After a long hiatus, Episode 10 is up on Dropbox! Spoiler alert (but not really), Tim’s been unwell, for lack, of better terms, but we discuss it for fifteen minutes […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 82: Freeplay with Dan Golding
In this episode: We are joined by Dan Golding, director of the Freeplay Independent Games Festival as we discuss the history and role of Freeplay and how it has changed […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 81: The One About Nothing
In this episode: We get together to chat about stuff we’ve been up to and Aaron ends up commandeering the episode to gush about Top Ten, Astro City and rant […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 80: Getting Nostalgic with Ken Lee (If Living Is Without You)
In this episode: We are joined by Ken Lee from the Hyper PixelCast as we discuss nostalgia in media. We also talk about what we get nostalgic about, remakes, licensed […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 79: Goblin Hunting with Ray Williams
In this episode: We speak to Ray Williams of Munji Studios and his second foray into Kickstarter with Goblin Hunters. We also talk about Kickstarter’s “Remind Me” function, games to […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 78: Ask Adam Anything
In this episode: It’s time for another podcast host interview! This time Adam takes the hot seat as we quiz him about anything that comes to mind: Malaysia, his TED […]
Review: Pregnancy (PC)
TRIGGER WARNING for rape. I wasn’t sure whether I could stomach (excuse the pun) Pregnancy. The Steam advertisement is very up front about the game’s content, and I was already scared […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 77: Circling 2 Years of AP
In this episode: We celebrate 2 years of the podcast with a massive circlejerk, reminiscing about some favourite past episodes and generally giving ourselves pats on the back. I’d love […]
GEEKY SHIT: K-On! figures by Alter
Welcome to another round of GEEKY SHIT, from your insufferable host, Evan! I just can’t stop talking about this rubbish! The first anime figure I ever owned was the Alter […]
A Tale of Two Jams – Global Game Jam 2015 and Blue Jam Micro
In early 2014, we recorded a podcast on creating vs. consuming. It was something that I had discussed a few times with the guys on the podcast, which is why […]
The Action Points Podcast! Episode 76: Morgan Jaffit and (the) Hand(s) of Fate
In this episode: We are joined by Morgan Jaffit of Defiant Development to talk about their latest project: Hand of Fate. In addition to discussing the game and how it […]
Action Points! 