Matt Thrower on Five Games For Doomsday well worth a listen
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's still thinking to be done on this one for me personally.
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.
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.
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 wrote: Frodo lives!
I do. But a member of my family almost didn't. Which is why I'm taking an extended break.