#65: 2017 In Review

Happy New Year! We’re back once again with our first episode of the year and our customary recap of the year that was. We take a look back at the biggest news stories in gaming and beer in 2017, share our favorites in a pile of categories, discuss our six favorite beers of 2017, and of course our top six games of last year as well. We’re tying this episode up with responses from our new DM Slack channel’s “Final Round” topic: What was the biggest surprise in gaming for you in 2017? Enjoy!

2017 Superlatives:
Best Artwork:
Danielle: Near and Far (Red Raven Games)
Jake: Flipships (Renegade Game Studios)

Best Non-mini Components:
Jake: Dice Forge (Libellud)
Danielle: Photosynthesis (Blue Orange Games)

Biggest Disappointment:
Danielle: Photosynthesis (Blue Orange Games)
Jake: Yamatai (Days of Wonder)

Game I Wish I'd Played More from 2017:
Danielle: The 7th Continent (Serious Poulp)
Jake: Dojo Kun (CMON)

Best Older Game I Played for the First Time in 2017:
Danielle: Bora Bora (Ravensburger)
Jake: Rococo (Eagle-Gryphon Games)

Best Party Game:
Vegas Wits & Wagers (North Star Games)

Best Card Game:
Danielle: Herbaceous (Pencil First Games/Dr. Finn Games)
Jake: Matryoshka (White Goblin Games/Terra Nova Games)

Most Innovative Game:
Danielle: The 7th Continent (Serious Poulp)
Jake: Magic Maze (Sit Down!)

Favorite Beers of 2017 Six-Packs:
Jake:

• Burial Beer Co. “Houtenhamer” Double-Barrel Imperial Stout. Asheville, NC. 10% ABV, 60 IBU.
• Perennial Artisan Ales “Maman” Barrel-aged Imperial Stout. St. Louis, MO. 11.5% ABV.
• Side Project Brewing “Saison du Blé” Imperial Stout. St. Louis, MO. 6% ABV.
• Bearded Iris Brewing “Chasing Rainbows Three” New England IPA. Nashville, TN. 5.8% ABV.
• B. Nektar Meadery “#DragonsAreReal” Cherry chipotle mead aged in New Holland Brewing - Dragon's Milk barrels with cacao nibs. Ferndale, MI. 14.0% ABV.
• Burial & Interboro & Run the Jewels “Stay G-O-L-D” IPA. Asheville, NC. 6.0% ABV, 50 IBU.

Danielle:

• Boiler Brewing “Quintuple Dog Dare” Imperial IPA. Lincoln, NE. 18.4% ABV.
• Good Road Cider Works “Avogadro's Trail” Semi-sweet Mead. Charlotte, NC. 7.8% ABV.
• Epic Brewing Company “Big Bad Baptista” Mexican Coffee inspired Imperial Stout. Salt Lake City, UT. 12% ABV, 65 IBU.
• B. Nektar Meadery “#DragonsAreReal” Cherry chipotle mead aged in New Holland Brewing - Dragon's Milk barrels with cacao nibs. Ferndale, MI. 14.0% ABV.
• Edmund's Oast “Kvass” Kvass. Charlotte, NC. 2.6% ABV.
• Founders Brewing “Frootwood” Barrel-aged cherry ale. Grand Rapids, MI. 8.0% ABV.

Favorite Games of 2017 Six-Packs:

Jake's Picks:

Downforce
Restoration Games
Designer:  Rob Daviau, Justin D. Jacobson, Wolfgang Kramer

Matryoshka
Terra Nova Games/White Goblin Games
Designer: Aaron Dill, Sean Sweigart, John Kovaleski

Flipships
Renegade Game Studios
Designer: Kane Klenko

Danielle's Picks:

5-Minute Dungeon
Wiggles 3D
Designer: Connor Reid

Azul
Plan B Games
Designer: Jun Sasaki

Seikatsu
IDW Games
Designer:  Matt Loomis, Isaac Shalev

We Both Picked:

The 7th Continent
Serious Poulp
Designer:  Ludovic Roudy, Bruno Sautter

Sagrada
Floodgate Games
Designer:  Adrian Adamescu, Daryl Andrews

Near and Far
Red Raven Games
Designer:  Ryan Laukat

Section Timestamps:

Intro

01:00 Show Housekeeping

02:32 Announcing the Draft Mechanic Slack Channel!

05:27 Meta Mechanic, 2017 by the numbers

08:27 Preface to the Superlatives

11:43 Biggest News Stories of 2017

25:10 Superlative Categories

55:34 Our Top Six Beers of 2017

71:20 Grey Fox Games sponsorship spot

72:08 Our Top Six Games of 2017

96:48 Final Round: Biggest game surprises

103:41 Outro

#53: Dice Forge / Pit Crew

Draft Mechanic Episode #53: Dice Forge review, Pit Crew on tap, Terraforming Mars: Hellas, Wordsy, Word Domination, MegaMooseCon con report, what is a Foeder?

CORRECTION: Jake and I for some reason both thought the Terraforming Mars: Hellas & Elysium map was $30 MSRP and we made a big deal of the fact that that was a lot. WELL turns out it's $20 MSRP which feels much more reasonable, especially when you look at that possibly being reduced if you buy it online (although Amazon does have it up at $26 plus $11 shipping so maybe don't preorder it there.)

Kickstarter:
Watch It Played Season 7

Recent Plays: 

Terraforming Mars: Hellas Map
2017, Stronghold Games/Fryxgames
Designer:  Jacob Fryxelius
Artist:  Isaac Fryxelius

Word Domination   
2017, Uproarious Games
Designer: Jeff Beck
Artist: Ryan Goldsberry

Wordsy
2017, Formal Ferret Games
Designers:  Gil Hova
Artist: Scott Hartman

Review:

Dice Forge
2017, Linellud/Asmodee
Designer:  Regis Bonnessée  
Artist:  Biboun 

On Tap:

Pit Crew
2017, Stronghold Games
Designer:  Geoff Engelstein
Artist:  William Bricker

• Rubber Soul Brewing Co. “Garage Racer IPA”; Salisbury, MD, USA
  7% ABV, 70 IBU.
  Mosaic & Citra hopped American IPA.
• Uinta Brewing Co. “Pit Stop”; Salt Lake City, UT, USA
  6.3% ABV, 45 IBU.
  Kettle-soured apricot IPA.
• Bear Republic Brewing Co. “Racer 5”; Healdsburg, CA, USA
  7.5% ABV, 75 IBU.
  Columbus & Cascade hopped American IPA.
• Oskar Blues Brewery “Ten FIDY”; Longmont, CO, USA
  10.5% ABV, 65 IBU.
  HUGE Imperial stout.
• Redline Brewhouse “Peel Out”; Barrie, ON, Canada
  8.8% ABV, 72 IBU.
  Imperial IPA w/ Azacca, El Dorado, Idaho 7, Equinox, & Cascade hops.

Foeders:
Foeder Crafters of America FAQ
The Challenges of Building and Finding Foeders
Good Wood (Generally about wood aging)

Section Timestamps:

Intro
01:00 Show Housekeeping
02:46 Looking forward to Gen Con 50
04:54 IndieGoGo: Watch it Played Season 7 Fundraiser
08:07 Con Report: MegaMooseCon
12:46 Recent Plays: Terraforming Mars “Hellas” map
21:20 Recent Plays: Word Domination
27:59 Recent Plays: Wordsy
35:21 Review Feature: Dice Forge
35:54 Dice Forge: Gameplay Overview
39:34 Dice Forge: Discussion
58:51 Dice Forge: Final Thoughts
59:45 On Tap: Pit Crew
70:00 The Beer Segment: What is a Foeder?
78:31 Outro

#42: Herbaceous / Well Played

Draft Mechanic Episode #42: A Group Discussion of Games We Played at Well Played Board Game Cafe, Herbaceous On-Tap, and Craft Beer Information Resources

Well Played Board Game Cafe

Recent Plays:

Dream Home
2016, Rebel.pl
Designer: Klemens Kalicki

Celestia
2015, Quick Simple Fun Games/BLAM!
Designer: Aaron Weissblum

Fauna
2008, HUCH! & Friends/Foxmind
Designer:  Friedemann Friese

Ice Cool
2016, Brain Games
Designer: Brian Gomez

Lanterns: The Harvest Festival
2015, Renegade Game Studios
Designer:  Christopher Chung

No Thanks!
2004, Mayfair Games (Currently)
Designer:  Thorsten Gimmler

OutLawed!
2017, Green Couch Games
Designer: Ryan Cowler

Heroes & Tricks
2016, Pencil First Games, LLC
Designer:  Eduardo Baraf, Jonathan Gilmour 

Noch Mal!
2016, 999 Games/Schmidt Spiele
Designer:  Inka & Markus Brand

On Tap:

Herbaceous
2017,  Dr. Finn's Games, Pencil First Games, LLC
Designer: Eduardo Baraf, Steve Finn, Keith Matejka 

• Sage: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project "Colorado Wild Sage", Denver, CO, USA
  7.2% ABV. 
  Brett Saison with fresh white sage and lemongrass
• Rosemary: Boulevard Brewing Co. "Tasting Room - Rosemary IPA", St. Louis, MO, USA
  6% ABV, 59 IBU. 
  American IPA with rosemary, Chinook, Simcoe, Citra, & Cascade hops.
• Dill: Steel String Brewery "Picklemania", Carrboro, NC, USA
  3.8% ABV, 7 IBU. 
  Dill gose brewed in collaboration with Haw River Farmhouse Ales.
• Mint: Perennial Artisan Ales "17", St. Louis, MO, USA
  10% ABV.
  Imperial stout  aged on cacao nibs & dried peppermint leaves.
• Lavender: No Label Brewing Co. "Forbidden Lavender", Katy, TX, USA
  5.3% ABV, 12 IBU. 
  Belgian witbier brewed with honey malt, lavender flowers, and vanilla.
• Tarragon: Jester King Brewing "Equipoise", Austin, TX, USA
  4.2% ABV, 26 IBU. 
  Saison brewed with ginger salt, dried tarragon, and cantaloupe.
• Bay: Against the Grain Brewery "Bay & Pepper Your Bretts", Louisville, KY, USA
  6.8% ABV, 27 IBU.
  Farmhouse saison brewed with bay & peppercorns and partially fermented with wild yeast.
• Saffron: Mantra Artisan Ales "Saffron IPA", Franklin, TN, USA
  7.2% ABV, 55 IBU. 
  Unfiltered IPA with saffron, caradmom, and Citra hops.
• Thyme: Birdsong Brewing Co "Doin' Thyme", Charlotte, NC, USA
  4.3% ABV, 15 IBU. 
  Witbier brewed with corriander, lemon peel, and fresh thyme.
• Chive: Look for beers brewed with Summit hops.

Beer Information Resource Links:

Beeradvocate
RateBeer
Untappd

Section Timestamps:

Intro
01:00 Intro / Housekeeping
02:30 CMoN News: Eric Lang, Adrian Smith & CMoN Play
08:14 Upcoming: Flipships from Kane Klenko
09:34 Upcoming: Dice Forge from Regis Bonnessee
11:32 Well Played Board Game Cafe in Asheville, NC
18:00 Recent Plays: Dream Home
24:33 Recent Plays: Celestia
29:13 Recent Plays: Noch Mal!
34:16 Recent Plays: Lanterns, The Harvest Festival
40:28 Recent Plays: No Thanks!
44:30 Recent Plays: OutLawed!
50:10 Recent Plays: Heroes & Tricks
59:16 Recent Plays: Fauna
68:05 Recent Plays: Ice Cool
72:19 Reflections on the trip to Asheville
77:58 Recent Plays: Herbaceous
79:36 On Tap: Herbaceous
92:54 Beer Info Resources
96:40 Outro