Episode 335 – How To Steam Broccoli

Mark and Janelle McGee

Mark and Janelle McGee have a cool card game on Kickstarter now (Tether) and it’s almost as cool as their company name: How to Steam Broccoli.

335 Fact

The STS-335 was the last stand-by mission for the Space Shuttle.

Sponsor Message

If you need help figuring out how to get that engine started, First Move Financial might be able to help. Head over to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers and see how First Move Financial can kick start your financial engine today.

What We’ve Been Playing

Stationfall (by ION Games – listen to our interview with Jon Manker)
Finger Guns at High Noon
HerStory (Underdog Games – review coming very soon)
Save Patient Zero (Helvetiq)
Challengers (Z-Man)
homemade games!
Bohnanza
our kids are moving on from Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters & HEIST
Bonsai (dV Games – coming this summer)

Ecosystem: Coral Reef

SNAP Review – Ecosystem: Coral Reef

We always love finding games that are both educational AND genuinely fun. Ecosystem is a card-drafting game in which every player is trying to build the most valuable “food web” with the animals that live in and around a coral reef.

Watch the video or read the transcript.

How To Steam Broccoli

So, how do you cook broccoli? Roast in the oven, grill it, steam it?

Steaming broccoli is something for which everyone has slightly different methods and standards. Janelle watches it as it cooks, looking for the right color. Mark uses a specific process and a timer.

But sometimes following directions exactly as written doesn’t get you the results you want…

We’re not actually here to talk about cooking, though. How does this turn into board game publishing?

Mark was trying to come up with a name for the publisher. Not an adjective-animal combo. Maybe a verb phrase! They settled on “How to Steam Broccoli” to indicate “just enough, and not too much” content development.

Tether

This is a card game that uses a mirror-deck. Every card has two two-digit numbers – which are “mirrors” of each other (eg. 09 and 90).

Connect the astronauts numerically in groups – one player (or team) is connecting vertically and one is connecting horizontally. Sometimes you can even connect groups!

The art is pretty cool, too: five different “types” of characters, but with variations.

Kickstarter until March 21 but late pledges will be available.

Anitra gushes briefly over Kintsugi, designed by Mark McGee and Daniel Solis.

Find How To Steam Broccoli Online:

HowToSteamBroccoli.com

Twitter: @HowToBroccoli
Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/howtosteambroccoli

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