Lens and Veil Podcast

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.
In this episode they discuss Towers of Sifnos by Shem Phillips and S J Macdonald. In Towers of Sifnos players step into the role of an ancient Greek military commander! Prepare your people against raiding pirates by constructing towers, mustering soldiers, and investing into the future of Sifnos. The game ends immediately once the third allied ship is drawn from the bag and the player with the most victory points wins.
📜Chapters:
0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?
0:08:16 - Intro
0:08:31 - Overview of Towers of Sifnos
0:13:11 - Discussion of Towers of Sifnos
0:54:51 - Questions for audience
0:55:09 - Top 200 Draft: 171-180
⭐About the Cast
Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).
Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.
Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam.
🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.
In this episode they discuss The Great Sea by S J Macdonald and Zachary Smith. In The Great Sea players take on the role of Phoenician city states vying for military and commercial control of the Mediterranean Sea. Players must construct and mobilize their ships, fortify their trade routes, and research new technologies for land and sea. Key to their success will be controlling the various ancient temple sites across the map. The game ends immediately once a player's temple marker reaches the same space as either their combat or trade marker.
📜Chapters:
0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?
0:07:45 - Intro
0:08:01 - Overview of The Great Sea
0:11:11 - Discussion of The Great Sea
1:00:16 - Questions for audience
1:00:33 - Top 200 Draft: 161-170
⭐About the Cast
Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).
Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.
Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam.
🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.
In this episode they discuss Moon Colony Bloodbath by Donald X. Vaccarino. Moon Colony Bloodbath is an engine-building, engine-losing tableau game, with a shared deck the players build that makes things happen, many of them bad things that kill people in your moon colony, but some positive, and some that let you build up.
📜Chapters:
0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?
0:10:01 - Intro
0:10:18 - Overview of Moon Colony Bloodbath
0:13:51 - Discussion of Moon Colony Bloodbath
0:51:28 - Questions for audience
0:51:46 - Top 200 Draft: 151-160
⭐About the Cast
Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).
Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.
Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam.
🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.
In this episode they each count down the ten games that made them the gamers and designers they are today, starting with games 5-1.
📜Chapters:
0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?
0:05:45 - Intro
0:06:03 - Preamble & Criteria
0:07:10 - Games 5-1
0:58:39 - Questions for audience
0:58:57 - Top 200 Draft: 141-150
⭐About the Cast
Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).
Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.
Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam.
🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.
In this episode they each count down the ten games that made them the gamers and designers they are today, starting with games 10-6.
📜Chapters:
0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?
0:05:24 - Intro
0:05:45 - Preamble & Criteria
0:07:24 - Games 10-6
0:52:15 - Questions for audience
0:52:31 - Top 200 Draft: 131-140
⭐About the Cast
Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).
Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.
Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam.
🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠