What happens when one person on a podcast likes Cthulhu Realms and the other person on a podcast doesn’t like Cthulhu Realms? Which one of them will prevail? World traveler, bane of iPads everywhere, and kangaroo expert Skip Franklin tries to convince me Cthulhu Realms isn’t just a cheap reskinning of Star Realms. Whether he succeeds or not, I’d like to point out only one of us has been kicked out a bar in Grand Rapids.
In the interest of full disclosure, the bar discussed in the podcast was in Lansing. Any bars I may have been thrown out of in Grand Rapids were for non-gaming reasons. :)
Cthulhu Realms is an evolution of Star Realms, but it has less in common with its predecessor than, say, Conquest of Elysium 4. Why do we dismiss the former but not the latter as a reskin?
Wide guess: because it isn’t named Star Realms 2, and because their take on the Lovecraftian theme makes about as much sense as if there was to be a Visual Novel about triangle love between Kirk, Spock and Bones. They are asking us to become emotional!
Some How I Met Your Mother dialogue that seems appropriate for this.
Natalie:
[Ted just broke up with Natalie]
I’m not the one for you?
Ted:
I’m sorry. I just thought the mature thing to do…
Natalie:
It’s my birthday!
Ted:
Yes, I know I didn’t mean to…
Natalie:
It’s my birthday, and you’re telling me I’m not the one for you?
Ted:
It’s really not such a big deal. I mean it’s the odds. It’s like you lost the lottery.
Natalie:
Oh, so dating you is like winning the lottery?
Ted:
No, no, no. I didn’t mean that.
Natalie:
So what’s the problem?
Ted:
It’s… I can’t explain it.
Natalie:
Try!
Ted:
It’s… ineffable.
Natalie:
I’m not “F-able”?
Was just coming to say that. In fact you can even view a log that will, in detail, show the previous 5 turns. A highlight around the card shows what was purchased (green), banished (purple), trashed (yellow), returned from discard to hand (orange). It’s quite handy!
Sorry that I didn’t catch the problem reference to Ascension app functionality during the podcast, but since I stopped playing it I’ve pretty much forgotten everything I knew about the game. Other than all the beatings I took, of course. I’d get a lucky streak of 3-4 games every once in a while, then lose a dozen. It’s a fine game for those that like all the complexity of having a gazillion cards, but not for me.
Wait, why do we disappoint you? I knew all that about the Ascension app. In fact, I have a whole list of reasons that Ascension – tabletop and videogame versions – is better than Realms!
That said, I came away from talking to ineffablebob with a much greater appreciation for Cthulhu Realms.
Which was really cool to hear. Obviously I needle about Ascension because I do so love it. 2000+ matches and still going. So I did appreciate that you stood up for it Tom.
And you had a wonderfully interesting talk. I’ve never played Star orCthulu realms (but I am a bit of a Tolkien geek, and Hitchhikers devotee too), but I got a good sense of how it plays. Obviously Ascension helps. Seeing your appreciation progress was quite the thing.
Oh, Skip, I never put that together on your name. Since one of my handles in some places is Arthur’s Towel, I must say love it!
I really enjoyed this podcast. Just like the two before this one, I loved getting to know my fellow Qt3 member, and loved the discussion on life and on gaming. And then I noticed once that was done, there was still almost an hour left. What on earth was there left to talk about after so much discussion on Cthulu realms already?
Ah yes, they’ve started playing a game on the podcast. I apologize, but I’m going to have to skip this part. Playing a game live on the podcast is a really weird idea you guys.
