The Board Game Faith Newsletter, Issue 28
Hello, Board Game Faithful!
Kevin: Wow it’s week 2 of Advent! There is currently 1 wrapped present under our Christmas tree. I guess it’s a numerically oriented holiday season this year? I seem to be counting things a lot.
Daniel: I had a happy moment the other day (actually, I am thankful to have a lot of happy moments, but this particular happy moment was related to Board Game Faith): I was speaking to a work colleague and friend, and out of nowhere he quoted Ali Karar from one of his appearances on our podcast (episodes 5 and 20). One of the great joys of getting to work with Kevin on BGF is the amazing folks we get to interview - it’s wonderful to hear that other people are connecting with our guests as well.
Behind the Episodes
Daniel: Our first episode on gaming and the Enneagram was fun, but we are going to pause a little before the second installment. The reason for the pause? Please see below!
Coming Up
Daniel: In our next episode, we take a look at games and religious holidays! At one point I had dreamt of making our annual holiday episode a musical extravaganza, but now that it’s actually upon us, I’m pretty sure it’s a terrible idea.
Kevin: Weirdly there aren’t a lot of Christmas themed games. Remember Rise of the Guardians? This would be a not-terrible board game theme. And it was a decent enough movie as I recall.
Games We're All About Right Now
Kevin: I just got back from Pax Unplugged in Philadelphia (and boy are my arms tired, if you know that joke), and I brought back Scout and Cat in the Box, two great card games that are just thinky enough to be fun. Also, the Shut Up & Sit Down review of John Company 2nd edition iterates what I have said, that it’s a tremendous game.
Daniel: I love both of those games! My copy of Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies arrived in the mail this week, and I am very happy it did. I actually had a dream a night or two before in which I played a nice crunchy euro game. I’ve missed playing this sort of game for a while; it’s really good to get it to the table.
Spirituality
Kevin: The gospel of Mark reeks of irony – Jesus has 2 miraculous feedings and the disciples still are confused about bread related issues (Mark 8:16). You have to love a religion that preserves harsh criticism for religious authorities like the Pharisees and its own founders like the apostles.
Daniel: In church we are going through an Advent series in which we take a look each week at how a different Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) treats the birth of Jesus. Matthew and Luke have all the familiar stuff, of course - shepherds, angels, magi, Mary & Joseph. Mark, on the other hand, completely skips over the whole thing. And then there’s John, who tells the story of Jesus’ birth in language that’s very mystical, mysterious, and timeless. It’s a great reminder that God often shows up in ways we don’t expect.
Media We're Digging Right Now
Kevin: I watched Pagan Peak for reasons that are obscure even to me, and thoroughly enjoyed it. If you like detective shows that feature broken detectives trying to solve a case then you will enjoy this. It’s a German show (title in German is Der Pass), and it was neat hearing German and reading the subtitles and wondering if Germans actually still smoke as much as they do in this show, or is it just part of the fictional word, holy cow it was a chimney fest. I finished A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine and it was so so good. So many great ideas bouncing around in this book about transhumanism and cultural oppression.
Daniel: Homing Pigeons!! I’ve recently been a homing pigeon kick, reading a book on the subject and watching several YouTube videos. They really are amazing animals - from their capacity to pinpoint home from hundreds of miles away, to their ability to take off by flying straight up and their piercing orange eyes. Orange Eyes!! In retirement I’d like to try to design a homing pigeon game.
Thank You
Thanks so much for being a part of the BGF community. We are grateful for each of you and the ways you make the world more awesome. And if you haven’t had a chance to tell us a little about yourself yet, we would love it if you could fill out this form please!