Sunday 22 January 2017

This Week: Jam, Arrival, Axebane, and Jazz!

Welcome to This Week, a weekly series where I discuss all the gaming (both video and tabletop) content I've played, made, prepped, run and seen that's cool this week.

Let's jump in with what I've done This Week...

What I've Made

Global Game Jam has come and gone for another year, and it's been an interesting one. I tackled the prospect of Jamming alone, and whilst I don't regret doing it, I've answered that question: I won't be doing it again. Jamming alone doesn't allow you to riff off someone else like a normal Jam does. I had my reasons, beyond just answering that question, for going alone but that's a different story all together.
(Image from Victoria Museum.)

Anyway, I did manage to make something, called No More, Molok! which you can find here. I hope you like it.

What I've Seen

I got to see Arrival at Cinema Nova in Melbourne, and it was fantastic. It's rare that I see a film that is actually about hope, and one where I have as few criticisms as I did with Arrival, which was awesome. I don't want to say much about it, because I feel the less you know about the film going in, the better. For those who have seen it though: I wish the last 5 minutes weren't in it. They felt unnecessary and detracting. Otherwise, it's freakin' great. See it while you can! 
(Image from IndieWire.)

After watching the most recent episode of RollPlay: Blades, the cast Geoff passed on the recommendation of John that folks should watch Peaky Blinders. So I did. I'm one season in, and I can't recommend it enough (even if you don't like or know about Blades in the Dark). It's set in 1919 Birmingham, England, and is centred around a gang - the Peaky Blinders - who run a small section of the city. I won't get into why, but they get wrapped into crown-controlled espionage, communist plots, and all sorts of intrigue-filled infighting. It's been so inspiring for me as a GM, and I have so much left to watch! Two seasons are currently on Netflix, so get on it!
(Image from Netflix.)

I became a Patron of Axebane Games who is creating awesome top-down maps with encounter sheets built in. I love the simplicity of the maps - just print them out and jot down ideas, right into them. It's very freeing, only having a tiny amount of space per room, as it forces you to do away with boxed text or complex ideas. Instead, you write down the seeds of your inspiration, and then you improv at the table. I just had to support this enterprise, and I get some awesome coloured versions early to boot, so I'm very happy!
(Image from Axebane Games.)

I watched the first episode of RollPlay: Nebula Jazz this week, which is the newest campaign on the channel. It's bloody fantastic, and other than Blades, I haven't fallen so quickly for a new show since Swan Song. It's a quirky 80's inspire sci-fi game using Fate Accelerated Edition featuring Adam Koebel as the Spacemaster, Dodger playing Eugene - a wise-cracking Slimething, Jesse Cox playing Qin - an Ex-Guardian giant Komodo Dragon-like Lizardman, Strippin playing Rex - an outlaw Sharkanoid, and Pokket playing Aurora - a robot girl with her best friend Sparky. Seriously, the descriptions coming from all the players are amazing, and I can't encourage you to watch it more!
(Image from itmejp.)

That's all for This Week this week. I'll talk to you next week, and tell you of all my adventures again! In the mean time, fill your own week with as much awesome as possible.

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