Ben: Hello, and welcome 5 in 5. Its a blog format where I ask one of my coworkers to grab five products from around the store in five minutes, and then tell me why they like them. Oh, and I use a gameshow announcer voice the whole time. Its great and its grating, but most importantly its content. Thank you so much for joining us and let me introduce the one, the only, Tristan!
Tristan enters, smoothly, like a dog with a beautiful wig (his words, not mine.)
Ben: Thank you for joining us today Tristan. What are some things people can know about you and your tastes?
Tristan expresses a love of animals and unique experiences, not always at the same time.
Tristan: I also am a fan of journaling rpgs, diceless rpgs, wide structures, and politicing and betrayal in boardgames.... unless.
Ben: Unless what?
Tristan: Unless...
Ben: Ok!
Tristan: This is a very fun solo journal game, where you are a loyal canine companion of someone who has a sword. Technically a master of the sword. Your final task is to get the sword.
Ben: Why is it your final task?
Tristan: Exactly.
It is part of the game, figuring out why it is your (the dog's) last task.
Tristan: You only need 3d6. so its a low investment in material and space, and highly self reflective as you explore the relationship between you and the adventurer. Definitely for animal lovers especially but boring people might enjoy it too
Tristan admits to having played it immediately after his childhood dog died. This may or may not have intensified the experience of play.
Tristan: Also, I love solo rpgs. Its like "what if i played pretend really quick?"
#2 - His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
Tristan: I think this series is really cool. Its a reimagining the napoleonic wars, but with dragons, and how it would be if we'd evolved alongside and domesticated great big dragons. I specifically love the dragon Temeraire, who talks and is a fully realized character. He's not just a motorcycle with wings.
Andrew, books manager and accidental cohost/mascot, happens to be recieving a copy of Fourth Wing. Tristan glares at the book with the hate of a thousand suns, and everyone laughs about booktok. cue laughtrack.
Tristan: The author also thought about aerial combat with dragons, and it actually feels like she caresabout the logistics of that, which is sick. Its like naval warfare.
#3 - Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast
Ben: I'm getting mommy thumb just looking at this.
Tristan: What?
Ben: I've literally hurt myself with this big honkin book. Tell me why its great.
Tristan: Its very unique in the world of rpgs, in that there are 50 characters and you make none of them. You start with eight unlocked, and there are like 42 more that you unlock as you play. Weirldly it feels like a videogame, with all the unlockable content and character progression and emergent narratives. Also, each scenario has its own rules, so its like 50 games in one. Its like a western marches campaign but if you owned a hotel, or maybe its the UFO 50 of rpgs.
Tristan: This is one of those games where you can replay it a lot. Like a lot a lot. Top notch.
Ben: Notch just your average game?
Tristan: Nope. You pick your identity from like 50 kinds of aliens, and each alien is trying to take over the galaxy in a different way. Since each strategy is unique, no two games are ever the same. Plus all the different ways of using resources and politics? Very cool, very fresh, very good.
Ben: Nice. Also, what kind of animal do you think Andrew the mascot is?
Tristan: Probably a meerkat in a tiny... hat!
Andrew, looking offended
Ben: Nice.
Andrew: actually I'd be a fox, like the ones in the stop-motion Fantastic Mr Fox.
Ben: With a bowtie?
Andrew: probably?
Tristan: This game is based off of some real life experiments in 1958, where Russia was like "can we domesticate foxes?" You play as the fox breeders who are trying to make the friendliest foxes through domestification over generations.
Tristan: Also, really cool thing, the cards are dry erase so you can name your foxes and get attached to them.
Tristan: Also Elizabeth Hargrave did Wingspan. We love her.
Ben: and she did Tussie Mussie with Buttonshy.
Tristan: Oooh, yes. Can't forget the Tussie. Or the Mussie.
Tristan: And also we love buttonshy (who produced Tussie Mussie and also honorable mention game Ugly Griffin Inn). Also, The Fox Experiment has a solo option! For when you wanna play a boardgame but nobody home/when you just wanan play by yourself.
Ben: Sick.
Ben: Tristan, thank you so much for picking five things under faux duress. Do you have any closing words for the folx at home?
Tristan: Hmmm.
Tristan: Mmmm.
Tristan: Hrm.
Tristan: Mmmmm.
Tristan: Mm?
Tristan: Sometimies I find the best games just by wandering around and looking where i wouldnt ordinarily look. Just do a wander. Something will catch your eye. It'll happen. Sometimes, you find a cool thing...
Andrew: and sometimes it finds you instead!
(These are fictionalized versions of Tristan and Ben and Andrew, as Ben can't type fast enough to quote anyone 100% verbatim, and also didn't think to audio-record anything. Really, all of the budget for this episode went into the funny voices we were using. Hopefully those translate into text. Thank you and goodnight!)