Episode 343 – Talking Games with Jeremy Howard

343 is practically synonymous with Halo. But where did 343 come from? 343 Guilty Spark was the Monitor that you meet in Halo 1. 343 Industries, Microsoft Game Studios‘ internal-build team tasked with managing the Halo franchise, is named in reference to 343 Guilty Spark. Also, 343 is equal to 7³

Sponsored by First Move Financial: If you want help looking at your 401(k)s to make sure you’re not overpaying go to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers to set up a time to chat.

What We’ve Been Playing

Isofarian Guard (Sky Kingdom Games – solo game or 2 player co-op)
Hickory Dickory (Plaid Hat Games) – “My first Tzolk’in”
Unmatched: Teen Spirit & Unmatched: King and Country (Restoration Games)
Federation (coming from Eagle-Gryphon)
Busy Beaks (JOEY Games) – and a side conversation about less plastic in games. Jeremy works for a manufacturer (Rawstone) and they’re seeing a push for more eco-friendly options, especially in the packaging.
Roller Coaster Rush (Pandasaurus) – review coming next month

SNAP Review – Pollen

Pollen is a re-theme of a Reiner Knizia game, now with beautiful flowers, bug tokens, and bug “scoring meeples”. Plant flowers in the right spot to attract the pollinators to YOUR cards instead of your opponents’.

Watch the video or read the transcript for our Pollen review.

Back to Games with Jeremy

Jeremy always has insight on the hotness, but today, we’ll focus on games that are currently (or about to be) available in retail.

Dice Manor (Arcane Wonders) – bid for blueprints with dice, expand your manor, and give tours.
Qawale (Gigamic) – a fabulous 2 player abstract game.
Earth (Inside Up Games) – doing a lot of things that other games do, but put together beautifully. And you will score LOTS of points.

Find Jeremy online:

part of Man vs. Meeple on Youtube

Jambalaya Plays Games community on Facebook

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