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 special episode they discuss the nominees for the Kennerspiel Des Jahres 2026: Rebirth by Reiner Knizia, Boss Fighters QR by Michael Palm and Lukas Zach, and Moon Colony Bloodbath by Donald X. Vaccarino. 📜Chapters: 0:00:00 - Whic...

🎙️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 Eternal Decks by Hiroken. Eternal Decks is a limited communication co-operative game in which players try to complete the stage objectives before any one player cannot take an action. 📜Chapters: 0:00:00 - Which w...

🎙️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 Men-Nefer by Germán P. Millán. In Men-Nefer you relive one of the greatest periods of ancient Egypt, carrying out tasks typical to Egyptian culture: acquiring knowledge in the houses of life, navigating and tr...

🎙️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, m...

🎙️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...

🎙️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 ki...

🎙️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 -...

🎙️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 -...

🎙️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 First Rat by Gabriele Ausiello and Virginio Gigli. In First Rat, players take on the role of rats trying to build a rocket and take over the cheese moon. They do this by moving their rat meeples up the board (junk...

🎙️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 Spirited, their first co-design all together. Spirited is a fast card driven game with push your luck elements where players must build wonders or forge allegiances with the numerous clans of the world. Featuring...

🎙️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 second part of the countdown of their top 10 games, they cover games 5-1. 📜Chapters: 0:00:00 - Which would you prefer? 0:04:06 - Intro 0:04:21 - Preamble 0:04:37 - Games 5-1 0:41:28 - Questions for audience 0:41:45 - Top 200 Draf...

🎙️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 count down their top ten games, starting with games 10-6. 📜Chapters: 0:00:00 - Which would you prefer? 0:05:16 - Intro 0:05:31 - Preamble, Criteria and Crossover Predictions 0:12:57 - Games 10-6 0:48:14 - Questions f...

🎙️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 Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship by Matt Leacock. Fate of the Fellowship is a co-operative game in which each player controls two characters, lending their unique abilities to protect Frodo, battl...

🎙️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 Through the Ages by Vlaada Chvátil. Through the Ages is a civilisation building game. Each player attempts to build the best civilisation through careful resource management, and by: discovering new technologi...

🎙️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 Slay the Spire by Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti and Casey Yano. Slay the Spire: The Board Game is a co-operative deck-building, dungeon-crawling adventure based on the video game of the same name. Each p...

🎙️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 Secret Societies by S J Macdonald. This is Sam's second ever solo design after Circadians: First Light. The aim of Secret Societies is to gain the most Power by outbidding and outsmarting your opponents to...

🎙️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 A Feast for Odin by Uwe Rosenberg. In A Feast for Odin, players Viking civilisations. In this game, you will raid and explore new territories. You will also engage in the day-to-day activity of collecting good...

🎙️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 anniversary episode marking one year of Lens and Veil, they answer a variety of questions provided by fans in the Garphill Discord . 📜Chapters: 0:00:00 - Intro 0:00:55 - Which would you prefer? 0:05:36 - Quick Fire with Shem 0:08...

🎙️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 Underwater Cities by Vladimír Suchý. In Underwater Cities, players represent the most powerful brains in the world, brains nominated due to the overpopulation of Earth to establish the best and most livable un...

🎙️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 Anarchy, and are joined by the game's designer Bobby Hill. In The Anarchy, players take on the role of English nobles loyal to King Stephen during the civil war. Over five rounds, players must build th...

🎙️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 Civolution by Stefan Feld. Civolution is a heavy euro-style sandbox game that uses a dice selection mechanism to trigger actions on a tech tree-like structure. The game has many strategies and paths to victory. Ea...

🎙️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 special episode they discuss the nominees for the Kennerspiel Des Jahres 2025: Looot by Charles Chevallier and Laurent Escoffier, Endeavor: Deep Sea by Carl de Visser and Jarratt Gray, and Faraway by Johannes Goupy and Corentin Le...

🎙️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 Assyria Second Edition by Emanuele Ornella, Shem Phillips, and S J Macdonald. In Assyria Second Edition, each round players bid for turn order, expand on the map, and take various actions. After the third and...

🎙️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 Lost Ruins of Arnak by Elwen and Mín. Lost Ruins of Arnak combines deck-building and worker placement in a game of exploration, resource management, and discovery. In addition to traditional deck-builder effec...

🎙️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 special episode they perform a snake draft of board game designers into their 5-a-side team. They each need to choose at least 1 attacker, 1 midfielder, 1 defender and 1 new recruit. Attackers: Designers who have the ability to ma...