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  • Matt Thrower on Five Games For Doomsday well worth a listen

Matt Thrower on Five Games For Doomsday well worth a listen

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There Will Be Games

Matt Thrower proves why he's an influence in the gaming media in his appearance on Five Games for Doomsday (5G4D).

So I'm a little late to the episode but I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of Five Games For Doomsday.  I like the concept but often the guest is a designer that I'm just not all that interested in and the conversation becomes about game design, not games, not gaming.

Matt's episode was on December 9th of last year and I found it very entertaining for a couple of reasons.  First of all as best I can tell he is almost exactly my age, and has experienced the same narrative in gaming that I have.  His discussions on Games Workshop and its house magazine White Dwarf were really insightful to what I experienced in the 80s and early 90s as well.

More importantly, I think this was the single most on-point episode on "gaming" (i.e., not games) that I have come across in any podcast.  Matt's writing here and in his Haynes manual is in a similar vein and I think Matt did a good job of tugging the host in the proper direction to really have an interesting conversation on the subject.  For those of you new in town Matt Thrower was a charter member on this web site and in a lot of ways has set the tone for how we approach the subject matter.  If you like what you read here, you'll very likely enjoy this particular episode of "5G4D".  I can't recommend the podcast as a whole, but this episode is a great one to catch.

There Will Be Games
John "Sagrilarus" Edwards (He/Him)
Associate Writer

John aka Sagrilarus is an old boardgame player. He has no qualifications to write on the subject, and will issue a stern denial of his articles' contents on short notice if pressed.

Articles by Sagrilarus

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Gary Sax's Avatar
Gary Sax replied the topic: #307086 13 Feb 2020 11:15
Thank you for the heads up!
Sagrilarus's Avatar
Sagrilarus replied the topic: #307090 13 Feb 2020 12:04
You know he raises some interesting issues regarding his writing style as well, and what particularly struck me was that most of his reviews emphasize his experience with the game rather than the technicalities of it, which I think is the proper path to reaching readers. This is something that about no one in the video review genre is focusing on, and I don't know if it's even reasonably possible. It's something that requires a retrospective perspective, something that greatly favors the written word.

There's still thinking to be done on this one for me personally.
mc's Avatar
mc replied the topic: #307093 13 Feb 2020 14:59
Thanks for the heads up, will listen for sure.

Matt's experience focused writing is terrific and much more useful to me than an explanation of rules or components.

Thinking about the video format - SUSD is the closest that I can think of - not that I watch a lot of theirs or any others - but it seems the focus is on the feel of play in the ones I've watched. Still a long way from what Matt does though.
RolandHemisphere's Avatar
RolandHemisphere replied the topic: #307107 13 Feb 2020 22:50
If you can't recommend the podcast, I can. It's not without it's flaws, and the premise is paper thin, but overall you get a discussion about games first and foremost. Most of the time when the conversation goes towards design it's about the games that shaped the designer, not so much about the design process... most of the time.

My big caveat is the host, Ben Maddox. I happen to like his wry style but it won't be for every taste. A show that features conversations with Reiner Knizia, Martin Wallace, Ian O'Toole, Uli Blennemann, Matt Thrower, Tom Russell, and a host of more obscure and famous people, and treats each guest as an equal is a bit of a marvel.
mc's Avatar
mc replied the topic: #307253 19 Feb 2020 01:03
I've been listening to these this week (although I don't think I saw a knizia one? Must look again) and they have been entertaining. They remind me very much of some old school BBC program with Melvyn Bragg or something (in fact....now that I say that I think he used to do a desert island something or other). The conversations go in different was but that's kind of down to the guest in a way. I've enjoyed listening to stuff about post war Salford (wallace) and class politics (faidutti). Although I couldn't make it through Eklund, he chose his own games the pillock! So yes Matt's was good because it really went into gaming,,and it was great, but if you are generally up for an at times esoteric listen with a guy who keeps the conversation going fairly briskly, yep,,worth it.
Matt Thrower's Avatar
Matt Thrower replied the topic: #307269 19 Feb 2020 10:40
This was a nice thing to find popping back to check the site for the first time in a while. Thanks for the kind words.

I really like Ben's show. Regardless of whether you get on with his style of wit or not, I think he's a very good interviewer who brings interesting discussions out of his guests.

Hopefully, I'll be back to posting regular content soon. Sorry for the delay.
Sagrilarus's Avatar
Sagrilarus replied the topic: #307277 19 Feb 2020 14:56
Frodo lives!
Matt Thrower's Avatar
Matt Thrower replied the topic: #307296 20 Feb 2020 10:58

Sagrilarus wrote: Frodo lives!


I do. But a member of my family almost didn't. Which is why I'm taking an extended break.